Holden's Path Part III
by obey2084
Summary: Holden returns to the Kalos Region to meet with the Pokémon League Council with hopes to get them to remove the ban on Apex Academy. With everyone involved in his school counting on him, Holden will be tested unlike ever before.
1. Chapter 19

**HOLDEN'S PATH**

Written by Obey

DISCLAIMER:

I do not own the rights to Pokémon. This story is for fanfiction purposes only.

INTRODUCTION:

This story takes place during the 6th Generation of Pokémon. At the time I came up with this story, I had played both the X and Y versions of the game, and took a liking to the style, which is why I mostly centered the plot around Lumiose City and the Kalos Region.

This story combines elements from the anime and the game series, where I made decisions, based on my judgment, on how to enhance the experience while striving to demonstrate realistic events from a world where extraordinary things happen.

Popular characters that are absent include Red, Blue, Gary, N, and Giovanni. Ash Ketchum is in the story and his existence created a potential conflict with Red's, and to keep things simple I removed Red. If anything, Holden essentially takes Red's place in the universe of this story. As for Giovanni and N, the drama surrounding their roles in the Pokémon world was inconvenient for the progression of this story, so they do not get mentioned. Another character not mentioned in Tobias, since he used legendary Pokémon in the anime, and I'm avoiding having them in league competition since they're too powerful.

The character ages were a challenge, and I tried to keep them consistent to a certain degree. At the beginning of the story, Holden is 25 years old, while both Ash and Serena are 20. Ash is armed with his Kalos lineup during this story. This means that the story takes place before Serena leaves the group to pursue her dreams.

This story is a representation of the experiences and observations I made during my days competing in Super Smash Brothers. Similar to that, there is a community and culture. There are alliances, leagues, trainers, cocky competitors. There is respect, and lack thereof. It's a unique world and people become part of it due to the constant inspiratational moments to occur, which I attempted to simulate in this story.

PLEASE ENJOY

**PART III**

"_There's no use blaming yourself for the past. You have to clean up whatever mess you left of it and move forward. Be the best you can be. Don't worry about the time you think you spent unwisely. Even if you acted like a jerk, the best thing you can do is to show everyone that you've grown since then, and for the better."_

-Ash Ketchum, pokémon trainer

CHAPTER 19.

TWO MONTHS LATER

The chilly air of winter began to engulf the town. Though it didn't snow here, there was still a noticeable frost, and most of the residents needed to wear coats during the day. At night, it got even colder. Fortunately, during the day, the sun provided some relieving warmth to help balance with the cold. Life carried on and everyone remained hard at work busy and handling everyday tasks. A little cold weather was no excuse to procrastinate.

The same applied to Holden, who had finally returned to Lumiose City.

There was fatigue in Holden's eyes, as he looked around and tried to remember where everything was, so he could locate a coffee shop and satisfy his addiction. He'd already left the train station and was now at Jaune Plaza, spending some time taking everything in. It had been less than a year since his last visit here, but it felt longer, and things seemed different. At the time, he longed for what was familiar to him.

It had been very early in the morning when Holden left Saffron City. It took some convincing at the Magnet Train station to switch his ticket, but he ultimately pulled it off. The reason for him changing tickets was to leave town quicker to avoid his clashing with Saffron City Gym leader Sabrina. They had a feud that went back many years, and things still hadn't been extinguished. When Sabrina found out about Holden's intention to visit the Pokémon League, she began to attack his academy, hoping to cover them with problems and controversies so that the league would feel it to be best to keep the ban in place. Therefore, Holden needed to get away from her so that her attempts at sabotage would hopefully go away too.

It wasn't really Holden's academy Sabrina hated: it was _him_.

After walking across the Jaune Plaza, Holden took a right on Hibernal Avenue and located Café Kizuna, where at last he got his coffee fix. With all that was on his mind, he once again filled his cup with Saffron Tranquility, and it was especially good tasting in this cold weather. He frothed at the mouth as he sat down at a table to comfortably enjoy the beverage.

Thinking about all the people that despised him was beginning to depress him, so he decided instead to concentrate his thoughts on those who were his friends. Unlike his last visit to the Kalos region, he actually had friends here now, which made him feel infinitely more welcome this time around. There was Professor Sycamore, Ash, Clemont, Bonnie…and Serena.

None of them knew Holden was in town yet, since he'd arrived sooner than planned. For some reason, he felt as though he didn't want to disturb them by catching them off guard with his sudden choice to leave town a day early, but eventually he overcame that thought. If there was any person he wanted to speak to first, it was Serena, and he decided to send her a message letting her know he was in Lumiose.

After he sent the message, Holden leaned back in his seat and enjoyed the view. This region was very beautiful, and definitely seemed classier than the Kanto region. Even compared to Saffron City, Lumiose was tall and stylish, while Saffron was fundamentally basic, though practical in its design. With his mind flowing so freely, Holden began to think about squares and circles, and how they both could be used, yet were so different in design. Surely, it was all down to preference? As Holden debated with himself, he figured the tie breaker would surely be whichever one possessed the greatest force to attract him. Saffron felt like the square, while Lumiose was the circle. With another sip of coffee, Holden soon scrapped his mental debate when he sensed it was futile.

When his phone received a reply, he didn't notice it at first. Eventually, Holden heard the vibration from the buzzing phone, and he checked on it. Serena had gotten his message and was on her way to see him _right now_. In a sudden instant, Holden was nervous at the prospect of seeing her again after so long.

He only had about twenty minutes to prepare himself before she appeared entering the Jaune Plaza where Holden had returned to wait. He was fortunate enough to see her first, and she looked different. Her hair was shorter now, though still the same sweet honey color as before, and she had a red and pink bow pinned in it. She was wearing a red dress that was below her shoulders, with a crimson red bow around her waist. Holden had to marvel at how good looking she was.

After a few moments, Holden broke out of his trance and stood up from his chair. "Serena," he called to her. She turned and there were her blue eyes again, followed by a mystical smile of recognition. Holden felt his heart beating rapidly when she gave him that look.

"Holden…I can't believe it," she stammered as she picked up the pace once she saw him. Though she was unable to run too fast while wearing the dress, she moved quickly to reach him and dove upon him with a hug. Holden returned it and she buried her head against his shoulder. Her white gloved hands pressed into the back of his neck, and she had on sweet perfume that further contributed to her presence.

"Yeah, it's me," he replied awkwardly. "Sorry to just show up like this. Things just…."

"Are you kidding?" she interrupted. "I'm so happy you're back! It doesn't matter if it's a day early. I'm just…glad to see you again."

Things returned to normal after they both got their emotional reunion out of the way. Holden looked down at Serena's dress and raised both his hands in praise. "Did you just come from a party or something?"

Serena laughed and blushed a bit. "I'm being filmed for a performance with some dancers! But I had to come see you once I heard you were back." She sighed and glanced back over her shoulder. "I can't stay too long. I have to get back in a little bit." She frowned at the thought of it.

Holden nodded, and held her gloved hand in consolation. "Where's it at?"

"Hotel Richissime. I was just gonna take a cab. It's really hard walking in these shoes."

Instead of that, Holden made a suggestion. "Let me take you back."

She raised an eyebrow curiously. "How?"

He smiled in response. "I have a car now."

To his surprise, Serena looked like she didn't believe him. "Really? Holden, you got a car? Do you even have a driver's license?"

He frowned at her doubts. "Of course I do! Anyway, it's just a rental car. Professor Sycamore is leaving town this weekend and I need to go see a lot of places while carrying lots of equipment. The car seemed practical." To prove it, he revealed the keys to her, and she knew it was true. "Follow me." He took her hand and led her east, where some cars were parked. Holden's rental car was a black four door, and it had black leather seats, which helped it to absorb heat from the sun to help warm up from the chilly breeze outside.

Once they were in, Serena rubbed her arms and shoulders to try and warm up. "I get cold so easily. I'm glad your car is nice and warm."

Holden sat down and started the engine. Soon enough, they were going down the back road leading to North Boulevard, where they would turn left toward Hotel Richissime. "Sounds like you've been doing well," Holden mentioned. "You look beautiful in that dress."

Serena blushed and tried to hide her face, which made Holden grit his teeth nervously. Maybe he was being too forward, and he reminded himself to tone it down. "I've been super busy with events in the city," she explained. "Last month, I was doing photo and video shoots in Azure Bay, Cyllage City, and Ambrette Town, where there were good views of the ocean. Now, it's really cold out and most of the events have been indoors."

There was no doubt Serena had been kept busy with her performances, and Holden was glad to hear it. Still, he wondered what was going to happen now that he was back. Serena had helped Holden out tremendously during his original stay here in Lumiose, but he hadn't known at the time how busy she was. If anything, she was busier now than previously, even. Hopefully, he wouldn't be an obstacle for her obligations. "I am really sorry to just show up a day early," he insisted. "I wasn't even going to tell anyone else, since I didn't want to burden any of you. Things back home were getting really…difficult."

Rather than worry about the apology, Serena addressed the real issue. "What's wrong?"

He rolled his eyes as he had to revisit the drama. "Sabrina's been going haywire trying to antagonize Apex Academy. She found out about my plan to visit the Pokémon League Council and so she's trying to sabotage it in any way she can. When I found out, I decided to leave town as quickly as possible so that hopefully she would calm down once I was at least away from her."

It was unfortunate to hear. "Sorry, Holden. Boy, she sounds like a pretty horrible person. I mean, I know you two haven't ever gotten along, but attacking your school seems like a real low blow." It was a very reasonable yet supportive response from Serena, living up to her reputation as a level-headed person.

Holden came to a stop at the light and then made the left turn onto North Boulevard. "Well, I'm here now, and I'm meeting with the Pokémon League Council in three days, so hopefully I'll get everything taken care of as soon as possible."

"How long are you staying in town this time?" Serena asked with a glint of hope in her eyes.

Even Holden didn't have an answer to that. "I don't know, but I'm renting a place off of Autumnal Avenue. I'll leave you the address. You should come visit sometime, especially since I won't be getting any visitors otherwise." Though he was laughing as he said it, it was still true essentially.

"Of course, I'll come visit!" she laughed in response. "And you _better_ leave me your address! I can't wait to catch up with you. And I definitely want to hear about how things went in Goldenrod City!"

There was no getting around her intoxicating positivity. "It was great out there. A big success. And yes, we do need to catch up." They pulled up in front of the hotel, though, and Serena sighed as they both realized she needed to get back to work. "Did you drive here?" he asked.

"No," she said. "I was in a rush this morning and was afraid I'd have trouble parking if I drove, so I took a cab."

"Let me pick you up later," he offered. She smiled warmly and nodded happily. "What time are you done?"

"I'm not sure," she said and tried to come up with an estimate. "But I'll call you when we wrap up and then I can change and be outside in about fifteen minutes probably."

"That sounds perfect," he replied. With that settled, he got out of the car and opened the door for her. Serena blushed once again and took Holden's hand as he helped her rise to her feet. Before leaving, she gave him another big hug.

They stayed in their embrace for several long moments, and Serena leaned in close to Holden's ear. "Thank you," she whispered solemnly. They looked into each other's eyes one last time before Serena began to walk toward the door. "Try not to crash, Holden!"

He frowned and raised his hands in protest. "I know how to drive!" he shouted in defense. Despite her joke, Serena winked at him before turning and heading back into the hotel. Holden sighed as he climbed back into the car and began to drive off. It was great to see her again, but now there was work to do.


	2. Chapter 20

CHAPTER 20.

While Serena still had hours before she'd be done with her work at the hotel, Holden had plenty to do at his new place. He was renting a room in a house comprised of five rooms, where as far as he could tell, all were occupied by renters. Hopefully, he would have the chance to meet with them soon so that they could all live together more comfortably, but for now, he focused on his own room.

It was nice to have an actual bed this time around, even if it was only a full size mattress. The room had a small window, but the locks were busted and so it was sealed shut for safety reasons. Aside from that, it was a cozy little space and more than enough for Holden to feel secure.

Just outside his room was the kitchen, and everyone living in the house had access to it. There was a very large refrigerator and freezer against the main wall, with enough space in it for all the inhabitants of the lodging. Even so, Holden had no groceries yet, until he went shopping in the marketplace. He planned to do that soon, but he was feeling very fatigued and lazy after rushing out of Saffron City so quickly. For sure, he'd buy some food and drinks sometime tomorrow.

One of his roommates walked into the kitchen moments after he did. He was older, probably in his mid-thirties, and he gave Holden a strange look. "You just move in?" The man had a thick goatee, and dread locks of black hair on his head with patches of silver sprayed in, and a notable scar on his left chin. He was wearing a sleeveless brown shirt with a logo on it similar to how a Houndoom looked.

Holden nodded passively in response. "Yes, I did. I'm Holden, nice to meet you."

The man gave Holden a suspicious look, but offered a response. "Name's Berto. Go over there and take out two glasses, will ya?" Though this guy was being a bit demanding, Holden looked at the cabinet Berto was pointing at, and opened it up, and found two glasses. He carried them over and placed them on the kitchen table. Berto grinned mischievously and then revealed he was carrying a bottle of wine. "You like wine?"

Holden held a hand up in protest. "I don't really drink."

That didn't stop Berto from pushing his offer. "Well, you do now. Sit." Having this strange man come forward like this caught Holden off guard, but considering he was going to be living in the same house as this person, it was best to start things off with good energy. Holden took the closest seat, while Berto placed the bottle on the table. While he walked over to another cabinet to locate the corkscrew, he had more to say. "Think I heard of you, Holden. You're the pokémon competitor, right?"

Normally, it would have been flattering to be recognized, but Holden didn't trust this man just yet. Still, it wasn't like he could lie. "Yes, that's me."

Berto pressed the corkscrew onto the wine bottle and began to twist the top. "Yeah, I thought it was you. I'll be honest with you, Holden; I'm not a fan of that battle life. I think sending pokémon out to wreck each other for sport is pretty heartless." There was a pop sound as the cork was released, and Berto gave Holden a judgmental look. "Seeing as how we're gonna be living together for some degree of time, I hope you can understand my position and keep your pokémon cage fighting to yourself."

Though he was a bit nervous around Berto, Holden elected to stand up for his beliefs. "I'm sorry to hear you feel that way, but I can't say I agree." Berto tilted his head with intrigue, and Holden continued. "Pokémon love to do many things and one of the most popular activities is battling. They are designed to battle, in so many ways, both biologically and mentally. Pokémon that compete in a valid sport are able to reach exceptional levels of power and evolution as a result. In turn, humans gain valuable knowledge and experience learning from them. So no, I don't agree that pokémon battles are heartless."

In response to Holden's defiance, Berto just stared silently. Several long moments passed before he finally moved, and poured wine into the glass in front of Holden before filling his own glass second. He placed the bottle farther down the table so that it didn't block their view of each other and then he plopped down in his seat. "I like you, Holden. Drink." There was a sense of hostility, but somehow Holden felt it would be best to have a drink of wine. He sipped on it and at first flinched at the bitter dry taste. A second swig resulted in a better resulting flavor and aftertaste. Berto grinned as he drank a heart swig of wine while watching Holden go slow with his. "It's from Laverre City. Believe it or not, they have a nice vineyard up north."

With that out of the way, Holden decided to change the subject. "How many other people live here?"

Berto sipped some wine and twirled his hand while pointing, as if he needed to in order to process a response. "My boyfriend, Scott, moved in a few months ago. Then there's Roxy, who is living behind the last door down. Finally, you got Ryan, who rents the door before Roxy's, only he's not in very often, since he travels a lot for work."

At least now Holden knew the names of everyone living there, though he was unsure of when he'd actually meet the others. Holden next inquired about Scott. "Do the two of you rent one room?"

Though it was reasonable to assume, Berto shook his head. "We got those two rooms over there," he said and pointed. "We just use the second one for storage. We're both swimmers and divers, so we need the room to keep our gear."

"Interesting," Holden admitted honestly, though he still was a bit cautious around Berto. "I've never gone diving before. Kind of have a phobia of drowning. I probably couldn't do it."

Instead of being encouraging, Berto laughed. "Don't be so easy on yourself. You definitely could _never_ do it. You pokémon trainers are big softies." Holden sighed and let out a subtle laugh, though he was unsure of how to really take the insult. Berto returned to his intense gaze, but he scratched his bearded chin and took another drink. "Don't be so hard on yourself. I know your kind is used to receiving insults. If anything, I'm actually a nice guy."

Holden just sipped on his wine and shook his head. He'd had enough of this strange man, and he made up his mind on how to deal with him. "Look, Berto. I appreciate you offering me some of your wine, and I appreciate your possibly nice but also possibly hostile way of welcoming me to this lodging. However, I think it would be best if we merely kept to ourselves, as I don't wish to trade barbs with you here in my place of sanctuary."

Berto acted as though Holden was overreacting. "Easy, my man. Just take it down a notch. All I've done was make sure you knew my stance. Be cool, Holden. Be cool." With a final swig, Berto finished the glass of wine. He slid the glass closer to Holden, then picked up the wine bottle and headed back to his room. "Wash the glasses, will ya?" he shouted before shutting the door. Holden let out a sigh.


	3. Chapter 21

CHAPTER 21.

A few hours later, Holden got the call from Serena, and he left to return to Hotel Richissime. He carefully maneuvered the car down Autumnal Avenue until he reached North Boulevard, and then he made the right turn. When he pulled into the hotel lobby, he looked through the fancy see-through glass doors, hoping to catch sight of Serena coming out.

Several minutes went by, and she hadn't arrived yet. Holden began to wonder if she was all right. He checked his phone again and she hadn't sent anything else since telling him she was ready to go. Holden tried giving her a call, but it rang until it went to voicemail.

After waiting another ten minutes, Holden decided to go inside to find her. He gave his keys to the valet, in case he was gone too long and they wanted to move his car, and then he quickly went inside. He had no idea where Serena would have been, but he would find out soon enough. First, he went to the front desk and caught an employee's attention. "Excuse me. I need to find Miss Serena Naosaga. Where was the filming being done?"

The employee looked at him curiously before giving a response. "They finished up, I think, but they were filming in the Sapphire Conference room." He pointed down the hallway, and Holden nodded in thanks before walking quickly down the hall. For some reason, he was actually worried for Serena, though he couldn't guess what could have possibly happened.

It took him several minutes of walking, but finally he reached the Sapphire Conference room. The doors were closed, and he was hesitant to open them, but he did so anyway. When he entered, the conference room was almost completely cleared out by the staff, though several workers were still busy. However, there was a muffled yelling sound coming from behind a wall nearby, and Holden noticed an office on the right side of the large room. There were people inside, and he already sensed that was where Serena was.

When Holden reached the door, he peered through the window. There were two men standing and making expressions with their arms while yelling. Sitting down in the chair nearby was Serena, which was enough to urge Holden to go in. He flung the door open and burst into the room. The two men leapt back in fright, even crashing against the wall from their reactions. Serena looked up at Holden and he saw tears in her eyes. _What the hell was going on_?

Something was wrong, and Holden felt the overwhelming urge to come to Serena's aid. "_What's going on_?" he demanded to know. He glanced over at Serena, who was utterly stunned to see him there. "Serena, what happened?" She was still shocked and just shook her head, trying to make sense of what happened. It was as if she never would have predicted Holden would have shown up at this time.

"I'll tell you what's going on. We're firing her," one of the men said coldly. "She's been vanishing constantly, and we have a strict schedule to adhere to. Enough is enough, she's done."

So these men were her bosses it seemed, though knowing that didn't make Holden suddenly respect them. He glared at the man who had spoken to him, while the second man remained hiding farther back. Sensing the potential for trouble, Serena rose from her seat and ran over to Holden. "It's fine, Holden. It's…it's _my_ fault. Let's just go. Please…." She pulled on Holden's arm gently, trying to encourage him not to do or say anything else.

After walking into this scene, however, Holden wouldn't be so easily swayed. He pointed a finger at the first man. "What's your name?" he asked.

Serena's boss stood erect and attempted to restore his manner of pride. "I'm Harold Farrington, the producer of Bleak Studios."

Next, Holden turned to the other man cowering in the back. "And you?"

The man didn't pose the way Harold did. "My name is Sven."

Now that he had their names, Holden moved forward. "You two felt it was appropriate to trap this poor girl in the room to yell and shout at her as you fired her? You don't think there's a better way of handling a situation like that?" Harold looked irritated, though he began to reflect on his actions, while Sven just looked scared. Holden shook his head and stared directly into Harold's eyes with notable rage. Then suddenly, he moved forward and aimed a fist.

At last, Harold succumbed to his fear, and panicked as he turned to retreat, only to crash into Sven. They butted heads and tripped and fell from the chairs on the floor, resulting in a loud thud. Holden winced seeing the impact of their heads, and ended up grinning. He turned to look at Serena, and she had her jaw hanging down. "Okay," he told her. "Now, we can go."

Serena grabbed Holden's hand and pulled it frantically. He didn't rush off, but he did leave the office with her and head back out front. Serena was trying to wipe away her tears and regain her senses the entire time, while Holden looked ahead and tried to remember the way back to the lobby. It wasn't too hard to find, and eventually they reached the front lobby and went outside. His car was still parked in front, and the valet waved at Holden. "Welcome back, sir. Looks like you made it back quickly after all. Here are your keys." Holden took the keys and quickly opened the door so that Serena could get in, knowing that she wanted to be out of public sight as quickly as possible. Holden was about to leave, but he remembered to first leave a tip for the valet, and then he got in the car.

Once the two of them had driven out of sight from the hotel, Serena looked over at Holden with tear-filled eyes. "Holden…what were you thinking?" He looked over at her confused but saw her laughing, even with tears still in her eyes. "I can't believe you barged in like that! I never knew you were that crazy."

"Crazy?" Holden stammered, laughing now as well. "I thought you were in trouble. I decided to go investigate."

Now that she had some time to process things, Serena seemed to come to. "Oh my gosh, Holden, I'm so sorry! You were probably waiting a long time too!" She looked apologetically at him, but he was shaking his head to dismiss her worries. "I had no idea they were going to fire me. I was working my hardest and doing so much. I thought when I took breaks it was okay. Everyone else was taking breaks, and I only took two all day. One of them was to go see you…" She trailed off, though it was too late, and Holden leaned his head to the side. Serena quickly reached for his chin to stop him. "Don't even think about it, Holden. It's _not_ your fault: it's _mine_. I take responsibility for all of it."

There was no point in trying to defy her, so Holden nodded begrudgingly, though he had more to say. "Either way, there's no reason for them to be yelling at you while you were trapped in their office like that." He made sure to be looking directly into Serena's eyes. "That's _never_ happening to you again."

Serena just looked back into Holden's eyes and felt tremendous gratitude. Everything that happened had been sudden and crazy, but the aftermath was very uplifting. She leaned over and hugged Holden tightly, even while he was driving. He had to keep his focus on the road somewhat, but he got his left arm around her and held her tight. She stayed leaning into his shoulder for the rest of the drive.

After a while, Serena glanced up out the window. "Where are we going? Your new place?"

With Berto lounging about there, Holden didn't want to bring her there yet. "No, not yet. Let's go to the lab. The professor left me a spare key in case I ever needed to get in. You can change and get into a fresh set of clothes."

Serena nodded and accepted the plan. She was pretty worn out from wearing heels all day, and getting into some regular clothes again would be nice, and she could also put on a coat since the evening air was very cold by now. After driving south for some time in the traffic, Holden parked the car at Sycamore's lab garage. He climbed out and once again went to open the door, though, this time, Serena opened it and climbed out herself. "I'll be fine, Holden. Don't worry about me. I'm fine now." He smiled and gave her the space she requested.

Once they were inside, things were strangely quiet with the professor gone. He wasn't supposed to have left town yet, but he was definitely not in right now either. Holden didn't know where he was today, though he was supposed to be seeing him tomorrow on his originally planned arrival date.

Serena walked around and inspected the table tops. "He was talking about visiting the coast up north recently. I guess he's running late coming back to the lab." With that in mind, the two decided to settle down for the time being and wait for him to get back. Serena went to the other room to change, and she also gave Sycamore a call to check up on him. After a few minutes, she yelled to Holden from the back room. "He'll be pulling in any minute now. I didn't tell him that you're here, so surprise him!"

Sure enough, in a few minutes, the lights from a car shone just outside the lab and Sycamore's car pulled into the garage. He didn't recognize Holden's car, so he was definitely confused, but Holden figured the professor would likely assume Serena had simply gotten a new car. Eventually, the front door opened up and Professor Sycamore entered, still wearing a black and blue wetsuit since it was so cold outside.

He walked into the lab entrance and nearly leapt out of his wetsuit when he laid eyes on Holden. "Holden! What are you doing here? You're a day early!" Holden laughed and they embraced, patting each other on the back and then finishing up with a good hand shake.

"For the record, it was Serena's idea for me to surprise you," Holden assured the professor.

"Naturally," he said with a chuckle. "Where is she? And whose car is that in the garage? Yours?"

Holden nodded his head with a smile. "I got a rental this time. And Serena's using the other room to change still. Hope that's all right, my new place isn't very inviting so far."

Sycamore wondered what he meant by that, but paid it no mind for the time being. "That's fine by me. I'm just really exhausted from diving most of the day to study pokémon. Quite frankly, I think I'm starting to feel more my age when I try to enter the world of water pokémon. It's almost embarrassing."

There was a lot of catching up to do, and Holden motioned to the couches in the living room. "Once you get out of that suit, come back out and let's catch up. Unless you're too tired, then we could get out of your hair."

"I'm tired, but I certainly have enough energy to catch up with you, old friend. Have a seat and I'll be right back." Sycamore made it back before Serena did, even though he started later. When he came out, he was wearing a white undershirt and blue pants. Serena, on the other hand, was wearing a pink fuzzy shirt and warm grey pants. When he saw her, Sycamore greeted her and then went to adjust the thermostat to warm up the room a bit. Serena saw what he was doing and told him not to, since she was fine now, so he left it alone.

The three of them had ample time to share stories of their latest exploits, and even the shortcomings. Holden had run a successful one month school program in the Johto region, which resulted in numerous sign ups directly from referrals back home, as well as the addition of a new assistant coach in Kirk. Serena had starred in two different films, though only small roles, and had created four different pokévision videos which were receiving positive feedback daily. Sadly, her latest job being a dancer for Bleak Studios ended badly when the head producer decided to fire her after he accused her of taking excessive breaks. As for Professor Sycamore, he had been studying the local pokémon life a lot, but his best progress was made in his specialty: mega evolution.

"You serious?" asked Holden. "Scizor? There's a stone for Scizor?"

"There are stones for Scizor, Venusaur, and Kangaskhan even," the professor explained. "I've been discovering more recently. This year alone, I've discovered four different kinds, including Scizor's, which I added to the official database two weeks ago. It's an incredible ability for a pokémon to upgrade to a mega evolution during battle."

Holden was intrigued, but he couldn't help but visualize the person with the most popular mega evolution pokémon around. "Diantha's Gardevoir never used mega evolution against me back when I used to compete," Holden explained with a low voice. "She was already powerful before, and now this additional boost only makes her even stronger."

Professor Sycamore motioned to Holden's belt containing his six orbs. "You could use this power too, Holden. Imagine how much more powerful your pokémon could be if you used mega stones. You really should consider…."

Holden quietly interrupted the professor with firm words. "I can't, Augustine. I'm sorry." The professor nodded in understanding and left it at that.

On the other hand, Serena remained unclear on what was going on. "What do you mean, Holden? Won't using a mega stone help you win?"

He reached over and placed his hand over hers. "Yes, it would, but that's why I won't do it. My pokémon are warriors, and they don't fight with tools to help boost them. They fight naturally only. I don't agree to mega stones being legal in competition." The conversation over the use of mega stones had never taken place with Serena there, so this was the first time she realized how opinionated Holden was on the subject. In a way, he made valid points with it, but she figured it was mostly just his pride. She enjoyed witnessing his pride, though.

After that serious conversation, Sycamore stretched his arms in the air and recalled that it was getting late. "Well, kids, I think it's time for me to call it a night. I have another busy morning tomorrow, though I'll be free by noon since I was planning on meeting you at the train station, Holden." Serena and Holden both laughed, and Sycamore let out a large yawn. "I guess tomorrow we'll go over what you'll need for the meeting with the Pokémon League Council. Trust me when I tell you, it won't be easy. You'll need to be prepared."

Thinking about that fateful meeting to come stressed Holden out even now, and he tried to avoid dwelling on his worries. "Okay, tomorrow then. Goodnight, Augustine. Thanks again." With that, Holden and Serena returned to his car and he started the engine. Moments later, they backed out of the driveway and were about to pull out into the street.

Before he entered the road, Holden turned to Serena. "Where's your place at?"

She looked sleepy but also very relaxed and comfortable. "It's on Estival Avenue behind the Café Rouleau." By now, Holden was more familiar with the city, and he made a left turn. Once they reached Estival, he took a right. Shortly after, Serena pointed to the left. "Take the next left, and we'll reach it at the end of the road." There was a group of nice looking houses lined up at the side of the road, which went around in a square. Serena's house was the white one in the back right corner.

When they finally arrived, Serena looked very tired. Holden felt worn out himself by now, but he rubbed it out of his eyes. "You got a nice place," he complimented.

Despite the compliment, Serena shrugged as she giggled. "You can barely see it from here." She leaned back in the seat, hesitating getting out of the car. Holden took a look at her in that moment, and felt strong emotions inside. She was something special: there was no denying it.

"Serena?" he got her attention.

She turned and looked into his eyes, and then he leaned forward and kissed her on the lips. They both shut their eyes and kissed passionately, finally succumbing to their desires. There they remained for a few minutes until Serena paused and smiled as she rubbed Holden's hair with her right hand. "I've wanted to do that for quite some time," she admitted.

He held her hand as she played with his hair. "Me too." That resulted in them kissing once again for another several minutes. So much had happened for them in recent months, but both of them had the pleasure of each other's company to help deal with all of it. The companionship was something that enhanced both of their lives. Everything was suddenly easy at that moment, and everything was pleasant.

Eventually, Serena succumbed to a tiny yawn and Holden felt the urge to invite the night to end. "Ready to call it a night?" he suggested.

She didn't want the evening to end, as if somehow Holden was going to vanish again for another few months like last time. "Holden?" His eyes widened as he gave her his attention. "You want to come inside for a while?"

He hadn't expected her to invite him in, and his heart started beating with nerves. It felt like he was paralyzed and powerless to respond, but he managed to nod his head enough to accept. She giggled quietly and started to open the door to get out. Holden moved to keep up with her. Moments later, they went into her house and escaped from the cold night outside, where it was warm and cozy inside.


	4. Chapter 22

CHAPTER 22.

This time, when the sun rose, it didn't disturb Holden. The shades over the windows were nice and thick in Serena's house, which was a great relief. Even at his new living space here in Lumiose, his window was bombarded by the sun rising from the east each morning. He preferred this new way.

Once Holden was officially conscious, he turned and looked to his side, but Serena was not in bed anymore. He heard the sound of pots and pans in the kitchen, and realized she was making breakfast. After smiling in appreciation, he stretched and forced himself out of bed. After getting dressed, he made his way out to the kitchen.

When Serena heard him approaching, she glanced over and smiled. "Morning, Sleepyhead." She had eggs on one pot, bacon on another, and sausage on the last one. There was toast in the toaster as well, and the two pieces popped up ready at that moment. "Have a seat. Breakfast is almost ready."

Instead, Holden walked over to her and kissed her on the back of her head. She paused in her cooking to turn around and kiss him the properly on the lips. They smiled at each other and then Holden walked over to the coffee machine. "I was hoping you had one. I know you said you don't drink coffee, but I still hoped."

It was entertaining for Serena to observe how much Holden loved drinking coffee. "I bought it a couple months ago. I think you got me turned onto coffee." She pointed at the little box on the counter next to it. "There's different flavors inside. Pick any one you want. Just make sure it's a good one." Though he gave her a defensive look, Holden grinned and located the one he wanted. She didn't have Saffron Tranquility, since she only had local brews, but he found an interesting one called Sunrise Macadamia, which came from Azure Bay. He held the cup so that Serena could see it, and she nodded in approval. "Good choice."

Several minutes passed, and Serena presented two plates of hot food at the table, where Holden already had two cups of fresh coffee ready. After a quick toast of coffee mugs, they both dove into the meal. It was the perfect start to the day, and they both got to share it with each other. Once breakfast was done, Serena began cleaning the dishes. Holden tried to help her with the cleanup, but she insisted on doing it herself so he could begin preparing for his day. While she didn't have any work today, she knew Holden had an important meeting with the professor to help him prepare for his even bigger meeting with the Pokémon League Council. She wanted him to be at his best to face this next big challenge in life.

When Serena was done with the dishes, she went and found Holden sitting on the couch resting his head against a big pillow. Serena's house was small, being that she lived there alone, but it was tidy and cozy. In addition to the bedroom and the kitchen, there was a nice living room with a television in the corner and an electronic fireplace. Though small, her house still had a living room, and bathroom, and a bedroom. There was also the garage, which had room for only her car since the washer and dryer were in there as well. Though things were compact, everything seemed to fit in well.

Serena sat down next to Holden and laid down against him on the right side. "Don't judge my little house," she said. He smiled and shook his head. "I'm serious," she assured him, though they were both still giggling.

"Never," he replied.

That made her feel at ease and she pressed her right hand on Holden's chest. "I think you're amazing, Holden," she said suddenly. He looked her in the eyes, and was about to respond when she interrupted him. "I know you're always busy with your work, but I…I feel very strongly about you. Would you…would you ever be with me?"

Holden rolled his eyes jokingly. "I'm already with you."

She hit him playfully with her right hand and he pretended to flinch from the blow. "I know that, stupid. What I mean is…would you be _with_ me?"

This was serious, and Holden was once again caught off guard. Here was the big moment where he was faced with the big decision he had spent years fearing. Somehow, it was different than he'd ever figured it would be. In this precious moment in his life, Serena had been brave enough to take the leap first, and Holden found that his decision was incredibly easy. "Yes," he replied only a moment after she asked.

Her eyes lit up in a new manner, and she kissed him on the lips to make it official. Having a romantic evening like they did was already very fulfilling, but agreeing to a serious relationship afterward seemed to truly legitimize everything, rather than letting it be chalked up to just a pleasant dream from the night before. They were now together and they were happy.

Apparently, having a peaceful morning meant that the afternoon came much quicker, and the time arrived to go meet with Professor Sycamore. They took Holden's car and returned to the professor's lab once again. This time, he was there when they arrived, and he let them in right away. He seemed very suspicious of how they were behaving, as if he knew everything that had happened. Even if he did, however, he didn't bring it up. "Looks like you've already had your coffee," the professor observed, though it was unclear how he knew. "Come on into the lab and I'll tell you everything you need to know about the Pokémon League Council."

Once everyone was sitting down at a table, the professor spoke while Holden took notes. The Pokémon League Council consisted of eleven members at all times, though they sometimes stepped down so others could help run things. The eleven members were as follows: Professor Oak from Pallet Town, Gurkinn the senior gym leader in Shalour City, Koga of the Kanto region Elite Four, Siebold of the Kalos region Elite Four, Steven Stone the former Hoenn Regional Champion, Alder the former Unova Regional Champion, Lance the former Kanto Regional and Sinnoh Regional Champion, Iris the current Unova Regional Champion, Wallace the current Hoenn Regional Champion, Cynthia the current Sinnoh Regional Champion, and finally, Diantha the current Kalos Regional Champion. They were all highly accomplished figures in the pokémon world, primarily in the world of pokémon battles.

"Your only true ally in there is Professor Oak," Sycamore brought up the obvious first. "He's the one who got you permission to compete in last year's National Championship. I've spoken with him and he's already begun speaking with council members on your behalf, so that's good news as well." After that, Sycamore let out a sigh. "I suppose you've already predicted the bad news."

With a sigh, Holden tilted his head to confirm it. "Diantha's got it out for me, I get it. But what I need to know is how do I get my request to pass? Do I need them _all_ to agree to it?"

Sycamore shook his head and sought to correct him. "After having a reasonable amount of time to discuss affairs, the council makes official decisions based on majority vote. Therefore, you need six of the eleven council members to approve uplifting the ban on Apex Academy."

Serena chimed in next. "So then, who is most likely to vote 'yes' to support Holden?"

The professor was reluctant to answer the question, indicating it was still a bit of a longshot. "Everyone loves and respects Samuel Oak, but they also strongly support Diantha, since she's currently the most prominent figure in the pokémon world. From what Samuel has told me, so far, he's only confident in two votes for your cause, including his. You're going to have a difficult time dealing with Diantha telling everyone to vote against you, especially with Koga and Lance since they're from the Kanto region originally, and Sabrina has spoken poorly of you in the past."

There was no escaping the past it seemed. Holden looked down in disappointment, but then looked back up. "I have to convince them I'm for real, and that my academy students deserve a fair chance in life just like all other pokémon trainers." He glanced at Serena and then back to Sycamore. "I'm prepared to leave my school if that's what it takes to get the ban uplifted."

Serena gasped in shock. "Holden, you can't do that! You love that school! You can't give in to their demands like that." Her point was a valid one.

Even the professor was agreeing. "She's right, Holden. You won't be able to help your students by abandoning them. They're all looking to you to fight for them, and throwing in the towel is not the answer."

The current obstacle frustrated Holden, and he placed his hands down on the table with a thud. "What do I do then, Augustine? Serena? I've spent years trying to fix things for Apex, but if I fail this time, it will be _over_. I can't keep telling my students I'll train them to be champions if they're banned from even competing in champion tournaments. Sometimes, it's necessary to make a decision that is best for everyone else, even if it's bad for me. And I'll do whatever it takes to support Apex Academy…even if it means giving it up."

Everyone was very quiet as they thought about what Holden just said. Serena squeezed his hand in consolation and support. "You're an amazing coach, Holden, and an amazing trainer. I just know the council will recognize it this time and they'll support you. But the only way that's going to happen is if _you_ fight to convince them as if it's the last pokémon battle of your life."

He knew she was right, and he smiled as he soaked in her words of encouragement. "I will. You have my word."


	5. Chapter 23

CHAPTER 23.

Holden had been to the Pokémon League headquarters at the end of Victory Road before, but things were much different this time around. As the castle came into sight, Holden held his hand over his eyes to block the sunlight enough for him to get a good look. It was an intimidating sight, but that was mainly due to the fact that the people inside held the fate of his school's future in their hands.

Before going any farther, Holden stopped and looked back at Serena. "Maybe you should wait in the car," he suggested.

She gave him an offended look and quickly told him, "No." He laughed with pride and the two of them finished the walk to the castle together. She had been his best ally on his journey out here in the Kalos region and she wasn't about to leave him to fend for himself now. After a very long walk, they finally reached the entrance, and were greeted once again by the guards. This time, Holden had an appointment with the council, and they already knew about it, so the guards escorted both of them inside.

The halls inside were vast, shimmering with all kinds of decorations and jewels as the light of the sun came through the stained glass windows. Farther ahead, the entrances to the four chambers were visible, where the Elite Four held their pokémon battles for aspiring trainers seeking to become regional champions. Instead of heading there, however, Holden and Serena were led to the left down a separate hallway, and into a different room.

Once they reached the door to the meeting room, the guards motioned to Serena. "She has to wait outside."

Despite the instructions from the guards, Holden stared at them with defiance, and there already looked like there'd be trouble. Sensing this, Serena quickly intervened. "It's okay, Holden, I'll wait out here." Though he wasn't pleased with having her simply wait outside in this unwelcoming place, he nodded and accepted it. She smiled and hugged him one more time before he went in. "You'll do great," she said confidently, and then gave him a kiss on the lips. With an empowered smile, Holden looked her in the eyes one more time before entering the room.

"Have a seat, Holden. Right over there," the familiar voice of Professor Oak was the first to greet him. Sure enough, there was an empty chair at a small table where a guest would sit to speak with the council. Holden slowly approached and took his assigned seat, and then finally looked up at the council sitting at the large table in front of him. Every single council member was present…including Diantha. No doubt, Diantha was responsible for ensuring everyone's attendance today. She was in her usual white outfit and, as always, she was also glaring at Holden with her typical loathing gaze. However, there was a sense of smugness to her mood today, for this was her world and the power was in her court.

"Welcome to the Pokémon League Council meeting room, Holden," another familiar voice spoke, belonging to Gurkinn from Shalour City. "We've granted you the opportunity to plead your case with us today because it concerns an issue over a ruling we made years ago. Apparently…" he paused to glance over at Oak before continuing. "…Someone felt it was the right thing to do. Therefore, we'll re-examine our ruling today."

Holden nodded and began slowing his breathing down to a calm and steady pace. It was time to tap into his abilities as a trainer, as well as a competitor, and maintain the utmost of patience. He had to be as calm as possible at all times, or else the council would bury him. He was operating at a disadvantage here today, so rather than defeating them, he had to win them over, which was a different kind of battle. After a few breaths, he began. "Thank you all for having me in your sacred domain. I've come here today to speak on behalf of Apex Academy in the Kanto region, in regards to the ruling of the ban put into effect six years ago."

"Remind us again," Siebold chimed in this time. "What ban was that?" Though Siebold hadn't been a council member when the ban was passed, Holden knew he was fully aware of it, and that he was merely asking this to force Holden to usher the words out loud.

It wasn't as though Holden had a choice. "The Pokémon League Council placed a ban on students from Apex Academy from competing in all Pokémon League tournaments so long as they were associated with the school. In addition, I was forbidden to open any more schools in other regions."

Holden didn't want to dwell on the negative words too long, but Diantha quickly interrupted before he could continue. "Don't try and avoid the truth, Holden," she said aggressively. "You know very well that _you_ were the reason for the council's decision. Years may have passed, but you were the cause of all your own problems. You need not speak of it as if _we_ were the villains in your story." Though Diantha was vicious, it was good for Holden. The more Diantha acted in any way other than a reasonable person, the more likely he could sway council members to support him. Unfortunately, Diantha seemed to realize it right away, and she restored her composure as well. She closed her statement by saying, "When the council acted, it did so for the good of the community. For the good of pokémon trainers everywhere."

"Talk to us, Holden," Oak spoke up, trying to present Holden with the opportunity to plead his case without being interrupted. "Tell us why you think the ban should be uplifted."

It was time for Holden to plead his case. "The students of Apex Academy are aspiring pokémon trainers, like all of us once were in our lives. They're young, passionate, hungry, and some of them are even dedicated enough to go all the way to the championship. As long as they have the chance to pursue their dreams, they will find great things in life. I love my school, and I love my students. They deserve a fair shot at their dreams, just like everyone else. I firmly believe my school has tremendously dedicated students, and I have personally seem them bring out the best in each other as they travel on their quests together." He paused to give Diantha a look briefly, and then resumed. "Regardless of how you all feel about me, the students don't deserve to be punished."

"But _who_ is punishing the students?" Steven Stone asked. "_Us_? Or _you_?"

"That's a good point," added Koga. "You're the one who stirred up so much trouble that your students are now being held back. Maybe you should consider your own involvement a bit more?"

These attacks were threatening, but expected. "I made decisions when I was younger. Sometimes, they weren't very good ones. In my quest to compete for the championship, I resorted to tactics that insulted a number of you council members. I'm here today, now, to issue an apology. I apologize for my poor attitude back when I was a competitor in the sport." He felt the emotions coming forward and he fought to hold them back. "I truly am sorry. I don't expect the council to forgive me for my behavior, but I do sincerely hope that the council can find it in their hearts to give me the chance to make up for it. If it means the students have a brighter future, then I'll do whatever it takes to make amends."

The council members were looking at each other to see what they could come up with now. Several moments passed before anyone spoke up again, and it was young council member, Iris. "What do you teach at your school?"

"He teaches immoral lessons on training," Diantha quickly intervened. "He's long since preached that the pokémon do all the work and the trainers are useless. You've undermined our journeys with you words, and mocked the legitimacy of our life's work. Now, you want to teach these things to impressionable youth on their way to becoming pokémon trainers? I'll never support such a thing!"

The council members seemed pretty set on it hearing it told like that, so Holden had to respond fast. "I _don't_ believe trainers are useless. The trainers absolutely work very hard all the time. I simply believe it should be a greater priority to give props to the pokémon. They deserve praise when they lead their trainers to badges, gyms, or even championships." Obviously, he would need to also address comments he'd made in the past, before Diantha tried to accuse him of leaving out details. "When I was a competitor, I said hurtful things to other trainers, but I said them in my quest to win competitions. Again, I apologize for my actions, and they are inexcusable. However, Apex Academy is a school of good and moral pokémon training, and I do not encourage such behavior from the students, nor do I condone it." He paused to search the room and examine the faces of his audience, and they appeared surprisingly involved in his explanation. That instilled more confidence in him and he kept up with the flow, thinking about Kirk back in Goldenrod City for the next part of his speech. "At times, I believe things can get intense in classes. After all, competition is a fierce thing. We're seeing all kinds of youth dealing with different types of habits and issues as they grow up. My school is a platform for many kids to find something to focus on. There are dozens of enthusiastic students back in Saffron City eager to grow as pokémon trainers. I'm confident there are many more in other regions as well. They all deserve every opportunity possible to achieve their dreams."

Once again, the council was inclined to agree with the words spoken. Holden was doing well, but the battle was far from over. "What about your schools?" Gurkinn returned to the subject. "You want to open more of them in different regions? How do you plan on accomplishing that?"

Though Gurkinn was fairly intimidating to Holden, he felt the old pokémon guru was genuinely interested in hearing his response. "I'm competing again, and using the money from tournaments to fund the school. If the council will grant me permission, I will open an Apex Academy in every region. I already have head coaches in mind for all of them, so that the schools will be in good hands even when I'm not present. I already had a temporary one month course in the Johto region, and it was a great success. The feedback from the school was all positive and the young trainers learned plenty, even in just one month."

"You were there the entire time teaching them?" Alder inquired.

Holden nodded. "Yes, I spent every single day running every single class. It was an opportunity I intended to use in the fullest."

"You're very passionate," Iris mentioned. It was strange coming from a sixteen year old, but she was a highly revered regional champion after all. "You seem to really care about your students. If I had to guess, you're a good influence for pokémon trainers. Yet, there remains the obvious issue with how you were once a trouble maker, and your punishment was put into play because you retired from competition rather than face the consequences of your actions."

Holden would have to be careful with Iris, since she was far wiser than her age suggested. "I retired from competition because I was changing thanks to my academy. I didn't want the publicity of my exploits to impact the future of my students, and I realized that by stepping down I would be giving them the best chance to learn the most from their experience at my school. Instead, the ban was issued on the school after that happened." Holden sighed and held his hands up. "As I said, I'm willing to do what it takes to make amends. Just please, the students don't need to suffer anymore from this. Give them a chance. Uplift the ban."

With that said, the council decided to suspend discussion with Holden while they left into a private room to speak among themselves. Holden was able to go outside while they did that so he could check on Serena. She was sitting quietly on a bench but looked excited when Holden came outside. "How's it going in there?"

He shrugged his shoulders and tilted his head. "I think I'm getting to them, but it's hard to say. Diantha really doesn't want to budge on her stance." Serena nodded and moved over a few inches, encouraging Holden to sit next to her. He felt like staying standing, though, as if it would keep him focused and alert.

"Holden," she said. "Please, sit." He looked at her and his nerves were briefly visible, but then he quickly regained his senses. She was calmer than him, and it reminded him of what he needed, so he sat down and controlled his breathing once again. Serena rubbed his shoulders to console him, but they both sat up straight, posturing together so that he could remain alert.

Back in the meeting room, the council all took seats at their private table and the discussion began. "Why do you hate this guy so much, Diantha?" asked Wallace.

She rolled her eyes. "Why? He's insulted my life's work multiple times. On top of that, he was teaching his students that as well. He's a disgrace to the pokémon world."

"I wouldn't say that," Steven Stone countered. "His return to the National Championship this past year was a huge spectacle. Even though it was you, Diantha, who won the title, Holden Hoffman was the one they talked about the most. He brought tons of viewers to his battles, a bigger spike in popularity than we've seen in quite a while. In fact, the highest rated battle of the tournament was his match against you, Diantha. There were 256 trainers competing in the previous championship, but next year the projections are way higher. The public has come in strong with support for Holden Hoffman."

"That is correct," Cynthia added her input. "He's a huge star already, with only one big tournament appearance in the last five years. One thing we can all agree on is that he is far from irrelevant."

Diantha gritted her teeth, not liking where things were going. "Yes, he's a powerful trainer, and that's what makes his opinions so dangerous. That is why he caused so much controversy and disorder when he actively competed. The Pokémon League isn't supposed to support people like that. That kind of behavior is not acceptable by our standards. It must be kept out of the sport." She lifted her arm toward the door, figuratively motioning toward where Holden was waiting outside. "He's still going to compete in the tournament, so the fans will get their wish, if they so desire. But his schools…we put that ban in place for a reason."

"Yes, we did," Gurkinn mentioned. "To _punish_ him. But now, perhaps it's time to admit the punishment has reached the point of sufficiency."

The rest of the discussion went in a variety of directions, as some of the council members stayed firm with Diantha, while others seemed determined to oppose her. In the end, a unanimous verdict was unreachable, and it would come down to the majority secret vote.

Holden was waiting outside with Serena a long time before he heard the council returning to the meeting table, and he quickly rose back up to go and be ready. Serena wished him good luck as he left, then once again waited outside for him to be finished. Holden took a seat in his assigned chair back in the meeting room, while the council members all returned to their previous seats too.

It was Professor Oak who spoke up first. He looked solemnly into Holden's eyes, which helped the nervous trainer sense what was coming next. "The Pokémon League Council was unable to come to terms on a unanimous decision for your case, Holden Hoffman. Therefore, as is the protocol of the council, we have cast votes into a secret ballot." He had the small metal box with the voting papers inside it, and he had to unlock it with a small key. Sure enough, there were eleven small pieces of paper with votes. Professor Oak took a while to carefully examine each vote, making sure he clearly understood them all so there was no chance of risking error. Even when he counted them up, he counted them a second time, ensuring he had not failed. Though he was taking a while, Holden was secretly glad it was Oak who had the votes, since at least he trusted him to be honest about the final result.

At last, Oak had the result ready. "The result of the voting has been reached. We, the Pokémon League Council, were quite divided on this issue, Holden Hoffman. The voting went six votes to five…in favor of upholding the ban on Apex Academy."

Holden felt a gut punch to his heart. _They upheld the ban_. It was the worst news he could ever remember hearing, and it took everything inside of him to keep it together. He still was unable to resist clenching his fists and letting out a loud breath of frustration from the painful result. It was a failure. It was a loss. It had all fallen apart. _He lost_.

Then, Holden found Diantha's eyes and saw her smug grin, and he was no longer calm. "You're a great pokémon champion. How about I speak to you in a way you understand?" She looked very surprised at this outburst, but was also eager to let him speak and possibly further prove her points about him. "I _challenge_ you. If I outplace you in the National Championship next year, change your vote and remove the ban. You always beat me, so it should be easy for you."

The council wasn't sure how to react to this unorthodox challenge, but they all waited to see how Diantha responded. They looked to her since she was the reigning National Champion, and they held her in high regard. This kind of pressure was a strong one, and Holden hoped it would be enough to attract the attention of her ego. After all, this was a desperate move. When she saw the others looking to her, the attention suddenly went to her head, though maybe for the best. "Challenge accepted, Holden. And after I beat you, I don't ever want to hear from you again."

Somehow, his desperate attempt had resulted in salvaging the disaster at least in some regard. All Holden had to do was outplace Diantha in the National Pokémon Championship Series. He stared in silence at her and the council as it all began to sink in. He would need to fight harder than he ever had in his life.


	6. Chapter 24

CHAPTER 24.

There were many arrangements that needed to be made. For now, Holden set up training in Sycamore's lab, though he sometimes went out to the fields to keep his pokémon comfortable with training outdoors. He even resisted wearing a jacket sometimes as a way of pushing himself as his team trained, in spite of the cold weather. For what they needed to do, Holden was going to ask more out of his team than ever before, so it was the least he could do to offer some form of sacrifice. When his pokémon watched Holden put himself through physical training, they respected him more, and he knew it.

Until that point, Holden was going to return to Saffron City soon after the meeting, but things had changed now. He already contacted his school and explained he would need to take a break from coaching to chase after this opportunity. Turner, Erico, and Kirk were helping to make sure the school's responsibilities were taken care of so that Holden could stay in the Kalos region. Even so, he didn't completely leave things behind, and most of the paperwork and politics involved with the academy were forwarded to Holden by mail so he could handle the more delicate needs of the school.

On this day, Ash arrived at the lab to meet with Holden so they could train together. They sent out Greninja and Scizor, and the two began to spar, trying out different types of physical attacks. As they went over the drills, Ash walked over to Holden and asked, "You nervous?"

Holden wished he could lie about it. "I've never been more nervous about anything in my life."

It was hard for Ash not to smile, though he understood the gravity of the situation. "Well, if you think about it, you have to do whatever is best to improve your chances of winning, which is to be as well-prepared as possible for all the scenarios while staying calm." Ash wasn't known for being a calm trainer during his battles, but he knew Holden's style by now, and encouraging Holden to stick with it was valid advice.

After Ash gave Greninja a few more instructions, Holden brought something up. "You've gotten all this way in your career with energy, passion, and optimism. If only I'd tapped into that same energy when I was younger."

"There's no use blaming yourself for the past," said Ash. "You have to clean up whatever mess you left of it and move forward. Be the best you can be. Don't worry about the time you think you spent unwisely. Even if you acted like a jerk, the best thing you can do is to show everyone that you've grown since then, and for the better." Suddenly, this became less about pokémon training and more about life itself. The past burdened Holden, but he started to see the wisdom in Ash's outlook. The more Holden lingered in the past, the longer he would be delayed in reaching his future. And the future now was to outplace Diantha in the tournament and achieve a future for his academy.

After a sufficient training session, Ash and Holden decided to call it a day. Their pokémon were resilient, but there would be no use in overworking them. Besides, there was still another six months before the next tournament, which gave them plenty of time to figure everything out.

Holden contacted Serena and they planned on meeting each other once again. Ash noticed, and decided to speak up. "That's great that you and Serena are together. She's an amazing person." Once Ash brought it up, Holden shrugged and tried to avoid talking about it too much, which confused his friend. That hadn't been the reaction he'd expected to see. "What's wrong, bud?"

Now wishing to avoid implying that something was wrong, Holden waved his hands in protest. "No, nothing's wrong. Everything with her is _great_. I…I'm not used to that."

The only thing Ash could do was laugh. "You two are always spending time together. It totally makes sense that you decided to be together officially." With that in mind, once again Ash seemed to put Holden's worries at ease. The stress of everything at stake in the upcoming months was beginning to invade his mind, attempting to poison his will at every opportunity. His friends were there to help him out most of the time, but he couldn't rely on them forever with this problem. Somehow, he needed to solve this, and it was up to him to ensure he got it done.

Holden drove Ash back to his apartment, and then went back home. Serena had been eager to finally visit Holden's new place, and today he succumbed to her requests. Hopefully, his roommate wouldn't be rude or awkward to his girlfriend, because while he didn't mind taking insults himself, he wouldn't tolerate anyone disrespecting Serena.

At the same time Holden made it back home, Serena arrived as well. They both parked next to each other on the street since Holden didn't have his own garage. She waved in greeting to him, even though they were moments away from conversing, which made him smile. Serena's hair was starting to grow long again, though she would probably get it cut soon for one of her next big roles. It was common for her to change her styles often in her line of work, and Holden was beginning to notice that more now. It was still cold outside, so Serena had a pink sweater on, but once they got inside, the warmth would drive the cold away.

After greeting each other with a hug and kiss, Holden helped Serena carry the groceries out of the car and to the front door. He couldn't quite maneuver his house key from his pocket, so Serena reached down and took it herself, grinning at him in amusement. She ended up opening the door as well and holding it while Holden carried the bags of food inside to the kitchen.

Now that they were inside, it was quickly evident that no one was home, or at least it seemed that way. Serena sighed in disappointment, since she was hoping to meet Holden's roommates. On the contrary, Holden was relieved. As for the others, he had seen Scott around the house on occasion, though both Berto and Scott rarely even acknowledged Holden's presence. Roxy was a quiet girl with big glasses who never spoke to anyone and was almost always in her room with the door closed. As for Ryan, Holden had never so much as even seen him once.

Serena placed the bags on the kitchen table and began going through and sorting the items. "I'm not as good at cooking as I am at baking," Serena confessed. "But I think I can whip up something nice for dinner. At least, we got you some groceries for the next few days. How come you hardly buy anything?"

It was hard to explain, but Holden decided to explain it since they were alone. "Sometimes, I put things in the fridge, but Berto and Scott usually eat anything they get their hands on. And when I complain about it, they just tell me I can drink some of their wine to make up for it, even though I don't drink." Though she couldn't resist a giggle, Serena actually felt that was pretty rude. Still, for now there was nothing to do, but hopefully he'd up his game and stand up to his roommates who were being borderline bullies.

Once the water in the big pot started boiling, Serena emptied the bag of fresh pasta into it to get it started. Meanwhile, she was cooking the sauce in a smaller pot, which also had four sausages cooking with it. Finally, she placed a loaf of garlic bread on a tray and left it on the counter by the oven. She would put it inside once the dinner was close to finished cooking.

Holden began washing the dishes, though most of them weren't his. As they worked together, Serena brought up something that had been on her mind for a while. "I've been meaning to ask you something," she took a chance. "I hope it's okay." He paused and gave her his full attention, unsure of where she was going with this, and so she went for it. "You never want to talk about your parents. I know it's probably a sensitive subject, but maybe…I really want to know about them. Could we talk sometime tonight? It doesn't have to be now."

It was hard to say no to Serena when she was so sweet, but this was a subject that Holden felt rotten discussing. Unlike most of the experiences in his life, the story of his parents made him feel unworthy, especially compared to how confident he carried himself in other facets of his life. Still, Serena deserved to know more about that part of his life, and it was unfair to keep it from her now that they were together. "Okay," he replied, opening up to it for the first time since they'd met.

Serena's eyes grew wide with interest, knowing how important this was. She figured he would want to wait until later in the night, but he paused in his work and looked over at her, inviting her to ask questions, so that's what she did. "What are their names?"

Though Serena was eager to hear answers, she was also busy stirring the sauce, and Holden was slightly amused at how well she multi-tasked. "Anthony and Marcy," he replied.

"Those are nice names," she commented, trying to keep things positive. She took a moment to sniff the sauce, looking forward to tasting it at dinnertime. "Where do they live? Saffron?" He nodded in response. "When did you move away from home?"

Holden looked away for a second to think about it, but he remembered right away. "It was just before my thirteenth birthday when I moved out.

It was hard for Serena to understand just what this entailed. How could someone so young move away from home like that? Yes, pokémon trainers traveled very far sometimes to chase their quests, but this felt like something different. "Why? Did you guys fight a lot?"

How to explain it to her without sounding ugly? This was very difficult for Holden. "To put it simple, I wanted to be a pokémon trainer and they just kept telling me not to do it. Finally, I left home and they stopped talking to me." As soon as he finished the sentences, he accidentally dropped a plate hard into the sink and left a crack on one side. He cursed to himself as he picked it back up and rubbed his fingers over the mark to see if it was sharp.

When he put the plate back down, Serena was suddenly next to him. She hugged him from behind and placed her head gently down on his left shoulder. Holden was irritated now from having to revisit his old memories, but Serena's presence helped to calm him down. "I'm sorry, Holden. It must have been tough for you. Let's just…have a nice dinner. We can always talk about it another time if it's bothering you." After she planted a kiss to his left cheek, Holden nodded and accepted her mercy on the subject. A nice pasta dinner with his girlfriend was far more appealing than reviewing the memories of his uncaring parents.

Once dinner was ready, Holden got plates and silverware from the clean dishes and set the table. Serena scooped out portions of pasta, sausage, and sauce, while Holden took the loaded plates to the table. They had fresh garlic bread to go with the meal and cold water to drink. Everything was in order, and they sat and began eating.

"This tastes amazing," said Holden, with his mouth still full of a big piece of sausage.

Serena giggled when Holden's voice was muffled from the food. "Thank you. You've got a nice place here. It's very comfortable. I don't think it's so bad here. You know, aside from…yeah." Best not to talk about his roommates, even if they appeared to be absent.

The couple was nearly done eating their dinner when the sound of the front door opening caught their attention. Berto and Scott barged in and slammed the door shut, before entering the kitchen and looking in awe at the sight before them. Berto stepped farther forward and spoke first. "Holden, my man. How's it going?"

Holden shrugged, but replied. "Good. Just eating dinner."

Berto nodded and his eyes quickly shifted to Serena, who just smiled politely. "My name's Berto. This here is Scott."

The gay couple both stared at Serena with a sort of unfriendliness, but Serena paid it no mind. "Nice to meet you both, I'm Serena. Are you two hungry? There's some extra food."

Inside, Holden wondered why Serena was offering them some of their food, but she didn't seem to think it was a bad idea in the slightest. Surprisingly, Berto and Scott quickly traveled over to the stove top, and smelled the still hot food. "This smells amazing," Scott commented, and Berto had no objection to that.

Serena blushed and held a hand to her chin. "Thank you. There's garlic bread too."

At that point, Berto and Scott took some fresh plates out of the cabinet and began to serve themselves. It was as if they hadn't eaten in days, and they loaded their plates with as much as they could fit. Once they had acquired their new meal, they decided to park themselves at the dinner table…sitting next to Holden and Serena on opposite sides of the table. Despite their intruding behavior, Serena remained polite, though Holden was beginning to get angry inside. He wasn't sure how much of their behavior he'd be willing to endure.

"Thank you very much, Serena," Berto was gracious in a most unexpected degree. "We've been swimming all day. We were just gonna go out and eat since we're too tired to do any cooking."

Scott quickly downed a big bite of sausage. "That, and Berto's cooking is atrocious." Berto glared at his partner with anger, but neither of them ever seemed to actually get mad at each other.

"Oh, it's totally fine," said Serena. "I cooked a little extra just in case anyone else was hungry. It's nice to finally see Holden's new place after all this time, and I figured a good meal would contribute to the experience."

"She's so cheerful and positive," said Scott bluntly. "No wonder he snatched her up."

Berto chewed loudly on a piece of garlic bread. "Yeah, I'd say he's pretty lucky. He's so boring. I'm surprised she's kept him around."

"He's not boring!" Scott said. "Just not any fun to hang with."

Holden was unsure of what to even do with their behavior, and Serena was starting to sweat a bit, but she maintained her manners. "No way. Holden's the best boyfriend ever. We always have fun when we spend time together, especially considering how busy he always is with his training!"

"What about you, darling?" Scott asked. "What's your story, Serena? It's gotta be better than Holden's."

Somehow, Serena managed to keep things positive by not dwelling on the rapid attempts Berto and Scott were making to put down Holden. "I'm a pokémon performer. I mostly do pokévision videos with my team, but sometimes I land commercials or special events if I'm lucky."

"You're a celebrity?" Scott stammered. "Are you…are you the girl in those pokévision videos with the Fennekin?"

She laughed remembering those videos. "Actually, Fennekin's evolved into Braixen now, but yes, that was me. She was my first companion on my path to achieving my dream."

Even Berto gave Scott a weird look to learn this knowledge. "What are you doing watching pokévision videos?"

"I mean, I don't anymore, but I used to," Scott admitted. "I used to kind of really want to do that, but alas, I'm devoid of such talent. I can swim though, and that's what I do." He glanced up at Berto with a strange look of admiration. "No one can outswim this man, though."

"Shut up, already," said Berto in defiance. One look at him, and no one would assume he was that good at swimming, but apparently Scott seemed to believe he was.

"I'm sure he's a good swimmer," Serena suggested. "You two both swim a lot, right?"

"I wasn't exaggerating, sweetheart," Scott reaffirmed. "Berto was the Kalos region Swimming Champion for three years straight at one point. He just slowed down a bit now." Though Berto looked grumpy, Scott finished his assertion. "He just slowed down now so that we could swim together." They ended up looking into each other's eyes with a certain degree of respect and admiration, and both Holden and Serena noticed it. There was something to appreciate in that sort of mutual understanding they had with each other.

Somehow, even after a bizarre end to dinner, Holden saw something good come out of it. And once again, it was all thanks to Serena. She was truly an amazing person and there didn't appear to be any end to all of the good she could do.

Once the kitchen was cleaned up, Holden and Serena were finally alone again in his bedroom. The two of them were lying down next to each other, and things grew really quiet. It felt like they were going to fall asleep, but Holden thought back to the discussion earlier in the evening. Perhaps he was going crazy, but he felt compelled to bring it up again. "Serena, I left my parents because they wouldn't support my dream. I ran away from them…and I thought they'd go out looking for me. I thought they'd try to track me down and save me from myself. But…they never did. They just let me go." When he was done spewing it out, he suddenly realized he'd never felt so embarrassed in his life having just shared it.

When he searched for Serena's eyes, she didn't look down on him like he was expecting her to. Instead, her eyes were close to shedding tears on his behalf. "Holden…you were only thirteen. What you did was immature, but you were dealing with a lot of new emotions at the time. It wouldn't be fair to hold you to such a high standard when you couldn't fully understand what was happening at the time." Her words were so powerful that Holden nearly felt the urge to shed tears himself. Even with how kind and thoughtful Serena was, he somehow couldn't picture her legitimizing his struggle from back then. The Holden who was thirteen years old wasn't the man he is now, and he didn't even want to look back and remember how he used to be.

Something came to Serena's mind about her own relationship with her mother. "When I was young, my mother wanted me to be a Rhyhorn racer, just like she was. In fact, she was one of the most famous racers ever in the sport. I used to fight with her all the time because I didn't want to be what she was. I always wanted to be something different. One day I figured out what I really want: to be a pokémon performer." Now, it was Serena's turn to grow emotional, and Holden wrapped her in his arms as he gave her his full attention. "It's been years since I left to go pursue my dream, and I think about the times I spent with her a lot. And you know what, I can visualize all the times she tried to push me to be a racer, and I realized something years later…she was just trying to help me to be strong, regardless of what path I chose. I was the one being weak by not using my voice to proclaim what I believed. Now, today she realizes how serious I am about my dream and she supports me." Serena rose up a bit as if to encourage Holden to feel empowered as well. "I think if you reach out to your parents again, they'll support you too."

If only he could believe that was the case, but he continued to harbor too much doubt. Sensing he was still not ready to take that step in his life, Serena just nodded in understanding. She wasn't going to push him too hard on the matter, since it was the kind of decision only he could truly make. However, what she could control was how much she supported him no matter what decision he made. And she would ensure that he always knew it. She kissed him passionately on the lips and the two of them fell into it again.

The journey was just beginning.


	7. Chapter 25

CHAPTER 25.

FIVE MONTHS LATER

Though months had passed since his last visit, Holden decided to return to the Shalour City Gym. In that time, he'd trained to the fullest and studied a variety of different tactics with his pokémon to help prepare for the big tournament which was just over a month away. However, with what was at stake, Holden realized this place could offer him some help as well…if he could somehow convince Gurkinn.

Right as he approached the front entrance, Korrina saw him from inside and came rolling out on her skates, along with her Lucario. The two of them stared at Holden in surprise, though she held her typical sense of disdain for him. "What are you doing here, Holden?"

As usual, Holden preached the art of patience to his emotions. "Hey, Korrina. Is your grandfather in? I was hoping to speak with him." He held his hands together in front of him and stood politely, which would have a greater chance of success than expressing any form of insult or hostility.

Though she was suspicious, Korrina seemed to enjoy the idea of Holden seeking them out once again. "He's meditating. He could be a while."

Despite the response, Holden glanced past Korrina toward the gym, though he eventually nodded and accepted her answer. "Mind if I wait?" he asked instead. She didn't understand what he meant, but she also didn't oppose him, and so he walked over to the shade outside the gym and had a seat. The spring was coming to an end, which meant summer was bringing the great waves of heat it always did, so the shade was a relief.

At first, Korrina was going to leave, but she ended up removing her skates and sitting down nearby. Holden tried not to look at her, but he felt her eyes staring at him and couldn't resist. "Holden," she addressed him to assure his attention. "I heard about your meeting with the council from my grandfather." Without being able to tell if that was a good or bad thing for him, Holden just nodded, confirming it while hoping it would help contribute to his plan here today. "Grandfather told me you'd come to this place again at some point after that. I was starting to think you never would. But once again…he was right."

That was definitely interesting to Holden, though once again, he was unsure of what would result from it. Still, with Korrina here now, he figured it was the chance to continue to make amends. "Korrina, I've been rude to you for years. For my rudeness, I apologize. It was wrong of me to treat you so poorly. You're a good trainer and I've never given you the respect you deserve."

She didn't seem to believe his words. "You're just saying that now because you want us to help you."

It was hard for Holden to flat out deny that there was some truth in that. "You may have a point, Korrina. At one time, even when I began to believe people I feuded with were actually good trainers, my pride would prevent me from coming forth and confessing it. So even when I grew to be more knowledgeable, I doubled down on my arrogant claims to help maintain the image I'd foolishly cultivated for myself. And I didn't think I would find myself so miserable years down the line, but that's exactly what happened. Thanks to my actions—however long ago they were—those who invested in me have suffered. I owe it to them to do everything I can to make amends, and today…today I am here to make amends. That includes making amends with _you_, Korrina. I'm sorry. Regardless of whether or not the two of you will help me in any way…I'm sorry."

This time, Korrina seemed to find Holden's words much more valid. She nodded and toyed with her long hair as she tried to figure out what to say next. "You really are miserable?"

He laughed and shook his head. "Sometimes I feel down, but I've been very lucky to have people who support me, in spite of all my mistakes. I probably don't deserve their praise, but they've stuck by me anyway. That only makes me want to repay them more, no matter how long it takes."

"Serena?" Korrina brought up. "She sees something in you. She's a good person, Holden." He remembered she'd mentioned the two of them were friends. "I have to admit, I was unhappy when I first saw the two of you together. Then when I found out later that she made you her boyfriend, I was borderline disgusted. But now, whenever I speak with her, she's just…happy. All the time. And she never says anything bad about you. So maybe, _just maybe_, you aren't completely disgusting. It just might be possible that you're not such a bad person after all."

Thoughts of Serena brought a smile to Holden's face. Once again, her presence in his life had come to help him out. "Thank you," he said graciously, though he quickly tried to cover up his smile and focus. After all, he was a man on a mission, and that was his purpose for being here today. That being said, he couldn't resist including some additional praise for Serena. "She's definitely amazing."

"Enough, you two! I can't stand it any longer!" Gurkinn's voice interrupted the two trainers. He appeared seemingly out of nowhere, standing just several feet away from Korrina. "Both of you stand up." His commanding voice, combined with his ambush, made both Holden and Korrina get to their feet quickly. They stood still and waited to see what he had in store for them. Fortunately, even with his loud entrance, Gurkinn quickly calmed down as he addressed Holden. "You've shown me much in recent times. But…I _never_ expected to go for a stroll this morning and see you actually _apologizing_ to my granddaughter. Perhaps, I may have misjudged you."

Korrina looked at her grandfather suspiciously. "Don't lie, Grandpa. You _told_ me to wait with him to see what he says!" Her revelation made him look at her with angry eyes, but he ended up smiling. Holden nearly laughed when he realized the two of them had been planning the whole thing, but inside, he was couldn't help but consider how if he'd said one thing wrong, Gurkinn would have noticed it. Therefore, he appeared to have dodged a bullet thanks to his patience and respect.

"Thank you, Korrina," Gurkinn told her. "That will be enough for now. We'll speak more on the issue later." Next, he motioned to Holden. "Come inside, Holden. You have questions for me, right? You've got my audience, now don't waste my time." Holden did as he was told and followed him inside.

Once they were in the gym, they walked side by side and traveled farther down inside. "Gurkinn, the last time I was here, I asked you for a favor. But…I made a mistake: I tried to purchase your forgiveness, and that was wrong of me. In addition to that, I thought I could simply move on from my past, but it turns out what I've always needed to do was to go back and clean up the mess first. That means…I owe you an apology. I apologize for all the years I spent being disrespectful to you and the Kalos region."

Gurkinn grinned, though Holden couldn't see it since the elder was looking away as they walked. "Your words are bold, Holden, just like you are. You've always been the man who would face his problems head on, provided they didn't impede the path of your pride. At long last…you have inconvenienced your pride in order to solve your problems. I find that quite admirable, and to repay you, I too have a confession." He took a deep breath as he stopped walking and faced Holden, looking directly into his eyes. "Years ago, I supported banning your academy with my vote because I was angry at you for the way you behaved during competitions. It was wrong of me to build an obstruction in front of young, innocent, pokémon trainers, when what they really need is to be encouraged with support. I will tell you now that I attempted to correct that mistake by voting to remove the ban months ago when you came to visit, but it did not work. So then, there remains only one way to remove the ban."

Holden realized what was being said right away. "I've come here today to ask for a favor, Gurkinn. Help me train for the tournament. On behalf of Apex Academy, help me train to beat Diantha."

With the offer on the table, Gurkinn crossed his arms in response. "We are finally on the same page, you and me. We'll start training today."


	8. Chapter 26

CHAPTER 26.

"Holden?" Serena called out from the kitchen. Holden came out of the bedroom to see what she needed. The mail was stacked up on the table, but she had one particular envelope in her left hand which had been opened. Now, its contents were in her right hand. "I got a check…from Bleak Studios." As Holden walked over to investigate, he quickly saw there was a letter as well. Serena looked confused, though she'd already reviewed the letter. "It's for the day I got fired. They paid me…_in full_." She couldn't understand it, but Holden was resisting grinning, and she sensed he knew about it. "Holden…what did you do?"

"Nothing," he insisted.

She placed the papers on the table and crossed her arms suspiciously. "Holden, there's no way those people paid me without _you _having something to do with it."

Holden raised his arms up defensively and started to laugh as he broke. "Fine, fine, you got me. I told Mr. Shinobu about what happened that day when you got fired. So, he decided to contact Harold Farrington and confront him over his foul behavior. Once he got him on the phone, he threatened to file a complaint with the police on your behalf unless Harold paid you for the entire day you were working that event." Holden picked up the check and held it forward. "You worked hard that day. You deserve to be paid for it."

There was nothing Serena could do but just laugh as she took the check, and then she wrapped her arms around Holden's neck and kissed him. She couldn't believe how that had worked out, but she was starting to realize this was how Holden ran things. It made her proud just knowing him, but even more proud to be his girlfriend.

Holden was proud to be with her as well. "Do you work today?" he asked.

Serena frowned and nodded. "I do. I won't be done until pretty late too. You think you'll be up late tonight?"

Though he gave it a moment of thought, Holden nodded. "Of course, I will be. Just give me a call. I'm training with Gurkinn again today, and after that, I'm training with Ash. I'll probably be really tired, so once you get off from work you may need to call a few times to wake me up."

With a sweet laugh, Serena rubbed Holden's cheek. "Sleepyhead. Okay, fine but if you don't wake up after three calls, I'm leaving you to sleep in peace."

It was a reasonable assumption, and Holden nodded. "Good estimate. Three times is the magic number." They kissed and then began to pack up to hit the road. They had to drive separately this time, so they said goodbye to each other before getting in their cars and leaving her house. It was another big day of work and training, and they were going to give it their all.

Later on, Holden finally got back to his house after a tough training session with Gurkinn. He decided to take a nap before meeting up with Ash later in the evening. However, once he got inside, Berto was in the kitchen wearing a wetsuit. "Holden. Get your ass in here." Holden sighed, and walked into the kitchen to see what Berto wanted. When he did, he was surprised to see that Berto had shaved his head bald. It was hard to even recognize his old roommate anymore, aside from the goatee and the swim gear. "Holden, we've been living together for months now. Yet, today, I have finally elected to make an important decision." He stood up and placed his hand on Holden's right shoulder. "I've decided…to call you my friend."

Though he didn't really want Berto's friendship, Holden was still surprised to hear the words. "That's…great. Sure, Berto, sure."

"No," said Berto, seemingly annoyed for an unknown reason. "My friendship is not so easily attained. Roxy's been living here for nearly two years and she only recently became my friend. But _you_, fortunate son, have been chosen." Berto walked over to the fridge and opened the door, pulling out a bottle of chilled white zinfandel once he had access. He closed the door and then grabbed two glasses from the shelf and began to fill each one. "Friends do things for each other, Holden," he explained. "Want to know what I did for you?" Holden shrugged his shoulders, actually afraid of what it might be. "I watched the video of you competing in last year's National Championship."

Yet another surprise. Berto had professed to hating pokémon battles ever since Holden first met him, so he never expected his roommate to actually watch any of them, much less on account of him. Still, Holden was really intrigued and wanted to know what Berto thought. "What did you think? Just as violent and immoral as you always felt it was?"

Berto looked serious for a moment, and then he replied. "It was art." This day was just full of unexpected events, and Holden could only nod and appreciate the compliment, whether it was directed at him or just pokémon battles in general. "Don't think I've gone soft," Berto explained. "I still don't approve. But when I got finished watching you get your ass handed to you by Diantha, I came out in the end feeling just a little bit less against battling than I had been before. Dare I say, I might even come to support it one day. It just might be possible…that I respect you."

"Okay, enough already," said Holden. "Aren't you going to go swimming now or something?"

"Drink with me," he said instead. By now, it was obvious he was fairly intoxicated and possibly even sad about something. "We're friends now. I watched your videos of you battling, so you need to drink with me."

For some reason, Holden found it hard to leave him alone there, so he reached for the glass. "Just one drink, and then I need to nap. I've got more training later today." They tapped the glasses together and drank, for the first time as friends apparently. For the next hour, they spoke to each other and drank, and the time seemed to go by fast. When Berto refilled the glasses, Holden didn't seem to notice, or at least he didn't object. They went through the bottle together, until it was empty and they both sat at the couch to rest it off.

"Your lady friend is a saint," Berto explained. "Don't let her go." Holden was still not fully comfortable talking about Serena with Berto, but at least the compliment was commendable. Berto leaned back and rubbed his now bald head with both his hands. "I let Scott go today…like an idiot. I think I drove him away. I think…I drove him away."

The intention of Berto's sudden change in friendliness now came to light, and Holden sighed. "Okay, guess that's my cue to leave…."

"Holden!" Berto held his hand up, causing him to pause. "We're friends now. And I need a friend now. Tell me, why did I drive Scott away?"

Maybe it wasn't the time, but Holden felt a bit more blunt thanks to the effects of the wine, so he came out with it. "I think it's because you're very forward and you don't regard how others feel when you speak your mind. Which, is kind of refreshing since I don't take you for a dishonest person, but you can do damage to others very easily with such reckless behavior. So…maybe try to learn when to keep it to yourself a bit more." Berto was dead silent. Holden sighed, feeling a bit guilty for speaking in the same fashion he was accusing of Berto of, and he prepared to apologize. Instead, he saw Berto nodding his head and thinking it over, and decided maybe it was a good thing to have gotten it out. "I'm gonna take a nap," Holden repeated. "Maybe…since we're friends now…wake me in an hour?" Though he didn't speak, Berto nodded in understanding, and Holden went back to his room.

An hour passed, and a knocking on the door woke Holden up. He suddenly worried he'd overslept and sat up to look around and get his bearings, only to see Berto standing in the doorway giving him a weird look. "One hour later," he announced, and then made his exit.

Holden stretched his arms and got himself back out of bed. There was still training to do today, and he wanted to be in good shape to handle it. That said, his body was sore from constantly keeping at it, and his mind was beginning to drag its feet figuratively. At some point, he'd need to take a day off, but every time he did, he felt like it was contributing to his defeat. With what was at stake for him this time around, he didn't want to imagine losing his academy because he'd forsaken even a single day of training.

Training with Ash went until sunset, until he finally called an end to it for the day. Holden wanted to keep going, and Ash had to remind him to get enough rest each day. Things were growing more intense as the big day drew closer, and Holden didn't want to rest. His energy levels were demanding it, though, and he knew he had to respect the opinions of his friends when they urged him to do so.

After being urged to, Holden returned to his house and lied in bed, reading some of his notes on different pokémon trainers who were expected to be competing this year so far. While last year's tournament took place in the Kalos region, this time, it was being held south of Nimbasa City in the Unova region. The headlines were already predicting that the tournament would be the biggest one ever, thanks to the increased popularity from the previous year. The numbers were estimated to be over 500 competitors, which meant they were going to cap the event at 512 trainers and sort them in 8 pools with 64 people assigned to each pool. What was currently unknown was whether the top two in each pool would be placed in a top 16 bracket which reseeded their positions, or would the top two in each pool battle with the winner making the top 8 bracket. This had stirred up a lot of discussion among fans over how things were going to play out. Some of the names competing this year were huge names: Steven Stone, Iris, Bruno, Wallace, and Koga. Even Sabrina would be in it this year, back from Holden's hometown. There were some high profile new names to look out for as well, such as Yuko and Takako, who made it to the top 8 the year before. There was also a young trainer named Dwight Myers, who went by the nickname Dwyer, and was getting a lot of attention for his talent. Finally, there was Diantha, who would be the favorite to win it once again, being the defending champion. That wouldn't stop Holden from battling his way through the entire field to reach his ultimate goal of outplacing her. Even if he failed to acquire the championship, he only cared about winning for his school.

Sleep eventually consumed Holden once again, and he was out cold when Serena called his phone. It took him time to wake up, but eventually Holden woke up enough to reach over and answer the phone. "Hello?" he said groggily, expecting Serena's voice.

"Holden," a different voice was present instead.

He nearly felt his heart leap out of his chest. That wasn't Serena's voice, but he knew who it was. "_Jasmine_?" he said, thinking he imagined it.

"Yeah, it's me," she said to confirm it.

Instead of speaking, Holden dropped the phone and it bounced off the bed and onto the floor. He attempted to rub his eyes, as if that would somehow rid him of what just happened. What he needed was to _wake up_. After several seconds, the phone rang again, and Holden leaned over to look down at it. He saw the screen from up there, but it said _Serena_ on it. Once he saw that, he picked up the phone and answered it.

"Holden, what happened?" Serena's voice was there this time.

"I…I don't know," he replied, which was the truth. "I was asleep. I guess I woke up too fast."

He heard a small laugh come from Serena. "Oh, so you _were_ asleep. I called you three times, the magic number just like you said. To be honest though, maybe I should just let you get back to sleep."

"No, come over," he insisted, nearly pleading with her. "Berto will let you in if I fall asleep again."

It was as if Serena noticed Holden seemed a bit frantic, though he was very tired, but she didn't say it outright. "Okay, Sweetheart. I'll be there soon."

When he hung up the phone, Holden was hesitant to check the call history. Did he really just dream it, or did it actually happen? Finally, he opened the call history window and looked at it. To his relief, there were no calls from Jasmine after all, proving he had been dreaming the entire thing. Even so, that didn't let his mind off the hook. Somehow, Jasmine was on his mind, or at least, the way things ended with her was on his mind. He didn't want to give it thought now with everything going on, but somehow, he sensed he would have to face that part of his past again someday.

Eventually, Serena arrived at the house, but Holden was still awake and answered the door for her. She was happy to see he managed to stay up and she leapt in his arms, though she found out he was still very groggy when they both nearly fell. After a few laughs, they calmed down and went into Holden's bedroom.

"You don't want any coffee or mocha?" he offered.

"No, thank you. Besides, I think you're in real need of good sleep, so we can just lie down together until you knock out again."

Holden wanted to deny his fatigue, but he knew better than to try and fool Serena. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and held her close to him, while she picked up the pages of notes he'd been studying prior. "Got some tough people competing this year," she brought up. "Too bad for them, cause you're gonna beat them all."

Her words of encouragement were amusing, though well-founded, and Holden chuckled in response. "I'm confident," he said. "And yet, I'm afraid. This isn't the kind of battle I've ever fought before. With what's at stake…it's a completely new form of competition. Sometimes, I think I'm gonna do worse than ever in the past, and the thought of that happening with my school on the line is torture."

Serena turned to look him in the eyes. "Holden, you can't let that fear have any effect on you. You and your pokémon are very powerful. In fact, you've trained more for this tournament than you ever have before in your entire life. You were already one of the strongest trainers competing, but now with all your work this year…you _are _the strongest. I believe in you. Now, you need to believe in yourself."

As always, Serena's undying support was touching, but Holden wasn't going to be so easily won this time around. Inside, he felt darkness that stemmed from the excessive pressure of what was at stake, and he couldn't simply power through it like in the past. It was something so deep that Serena couldn't possibly understand how he felt. Still, she had some valid points, and he was going to be as prepared as possible for this tournament. That was the best start he could get going into the competition.

"I almost forgot," Serena said suddenly. "I got something for you." She climbed down from the bed and retrieved the bag she'd brought with her. While he looked over to try and see what she was up to, she turned her back to him so it concealed the surprise. Eventually, she had it in her hands and she finally revealed what it was.

"A flute?" he asked confused.

It was, indeed, a shiny black flute. She held it in both hands and showed it off to Holden. "I wanted to wait until daytime, but I figured why not show you now? I've been practicing."

"Been practicing what? _Playing the flute_?"

"Yes, silly. I can play the flute now." He stared in bewilderment, and then Serena held the mouthpiece to her lips. With a muffled smile, she got to blowing gently into the piece. The soft sound that emitted was instantly moving, and she switched between notes almost effortlessly as she proceeded with her song. Holden simply sat there frozen, mesmerized by the surprise of the evening. He almost couldn't believe it was coming from Serena, but it felt like a valid representation of her personality, being that she was an angel. The short song was nothing less than serene.

When she finished, she took a slight bow, and Holden held his hands up toward her. "That was beautiful," he spoke without any trace of doubt.

Serena blushed and lowered the instrument. "Thank you. I practiced that for days. I'm so glad I didn't ruin it."

"No way," Holden insisted.

"If I can play a song on the flute for you, then _you_ can win the National Championship."

Holden just laughed. "That's an absurd comparison."

"You're the only one who's being absurd!" she countered. Holden grabbed her and wrestled her to the bed, where he pinned her down while the two of them just kept laughing. Even when Berto knocked on the door to get them to quiet down, they just kept on giggling like children. With all the business and responsibilities they were involved in, it was the best feeling to escape from all of it, even if it was only for a short time. It turned out this was the best cure for the excessive stress Holden was afflicted with, because his troubles were turned into butter and melted by Serena's warm affection. They were reaching deeper levels than either of them ever had before. They were beginning to fall in love.


	9. Chapter 27

CHAPTER 27.

The big day had arrived: the first day of the National Pokémon Championship Series. This was what everything had led up to over the past year. It was time for the biggest tournament of the year to begin.

Travelers mostly arrived by ships to the seaside city of Castelia, where giant skyscrapers stood like giants towering above the bay. Beyond the great city was the desert, which covered the central land of the region, until up north was Nimbasa City. The world's largest pokémon tournament was going to be held just north of Castelia, where the temperature was more stable south of the desert. The event was going to last three days, in order to have adequate time to run through all the pools: the first four pools would occur on the first day, then the next four on day two, with the top sixteen pool and the finals being on the third day. That left plenty of time for interviews, activities, and festival fun for all attending the event as well.

Holden traveled to Castelia with a large group this time: Ash, Serena, Clemont, Bonnie, Sycamore, Oak, and even Berto. Of course, Ash was also competing, and once the group finally arrived to the tournament grounds via tram, both Holden and Ash registered in person and found out they were in Pool 5 and Pool 8 respectively. That meant they didn't start their matches until the second day. It also meant they could be battling at the same time, which could prevent them from coaching each other.

Unfortunately, as soon as the group of friends got settled in, Serena had to leave. She had been invited to attend the tournament as a celebrity guest to give interviews and spice up the ratings, and Holden had demanded that she accept it, though she didn't want to risk missing his matches. Ultimately, she took the job since it would help her career greatly being in the spotlight with people watching from all over the world. The important thing was that everyone at the event would be watching once the top sixteen began on the third day, and nothing was going to make her miss that.

Even with Serena gone, the others walked together to grab some food and enjoy the festivities, while Professor Oak walked alongside Holden at one point. "I'm very proud of you, Holden," he said to him. "You've come a long way from when I first gave you your Bulbasaur in Pallet Town. You've matured greatly, and it's wonderful to see you back in pokémon battles once again."

Even with the kind words, Holden had things he wanted to get off his chest. "Thank you for supporting me, professor, especially…back in the council meeting. I'm sorry for when I went off on Diantha. It was…emotional for me."

"Nonsense," Oak countered. "In all honesty, it was one of the most exciting council meetings I'd ever attended, though I was saddened all the same. I think Diantha is a wonderful person, Holden, but her emotions regarding the subject of you have sabotaged her good nature. She never quite figured out how to deal with her enemies, and you represent disorder to her life." That all seemed to make sense to Holden, at least when Oak said it. After all, the professor was an expert on human and pokémon relations. His ability to organize his thoughts into comprehensible demonstrated his exceptional talent.

"Well, now I guess I have to outplace her," Holden said in reminder to Oak. "No matter what."

Oak raised an eyebrow as he smiled, in spite of the obvious pressure Holden was coping with. "Regardless of whether or not you succeed today, Holden, everyone saw you stand up for your students with bravery. There may be people who doubt your methods of teaching, but no reasonable person can deny your passion for those under your wing. You've given your academy a fighting chance. Now…go and fight." With that said, the professor gave Holden a firm handshake to send him off. It wouldn't be easy, but he knew Holden was going to do everything in his power to win.

Once they'd gotten some food, everyone headed over to the arena to locate seats. There were four large battlefields, and enough seating to accommodate all the people attending the event live. There was special seating in the front sections for those guests specifically there to watch family or friends compete, so Holden and Ash's guests were able to secure seats during Pool 5 and Pool 8. However, those matches didn't start until tomorrow, so today, the group of friends sat in the regular seats.

Holden sat in the seats by the battlefield for Pool 1, where Diantha was the top seed. He would be watching her matches closely, secretly hoping she would lose in shocking fashion, though he was smart enough to know that was not going to happen. Everyone competing was afraid of having to face her in battle, at least if they hoped to actually win. Most of the time, her opponents were simply happy for the experience of battling against her.

Once the first pool was under way, Diantha had a match early, which she won in just a few minutes, thanks to Gardevoir. The audience was behind her once again, though her mood was significantly more uptight than was common for her. Her opponent came forward to shake hands with her, but even from far away, Holden could see she was being very unwelcoming to people around her. She was fired up, but also vulnerable to becoming over emotional. He could take advantage of this if they ended up battling.

Pool 2 began as well, with Iris being the number one seed there. She was seventeen years old now, which was still a young age, but she was one of the strongest dragon trainers in the world. Iris demonstrated why she was so revered as her Archeops and Salamence won their battles with great flash. Holden had never witnessed her battling before, and he was incredibly impressed. This was a potential opponent for him as well, and she would be hard to defeat. In addition to Iris, Sabrina was also competing in Pool 2, and she was defeating all of her challengers as well. However, deeper into her pool, she was unseated in surprising fashion by a strong trainer named Proton with a Sableye which countered Sabrina's psychic types enough to overcome her strength. Holden couldn't resist feeling happy to see her fall short, but he knew better than to underestimate her abilities. If Proton was good enough to beat Sabrina, then there was a chance he would make it far in the tournament, along with Iris.

Pool 3 had Wallace for the top seed, and he once again wreaked havoc on his opponents in stylish fashion. Even though they knew he was going to lead out with Milotic every time, his trademark pokémon didn't leave the battle without knocking out at least one or two pokémon first. His levels were very advanced, and most of the younger trainers simply couldn't keep up with him. The ones that gave him a good fight would still be unable to defeat three of his team. The other big name in this pool was Koga, who once again was on a strong run just like the previous year. Finally, Holden was a bit uncomfortable when he noticed that Jasmine was competing this year as well, though she never had before. He was glad he was sitting high up on the seats where she most likely couldn't see him from her battlefield, which was far from where he was. Nonetheless, Jasmine was a strong gym leader with steel type pokémon, and she won three battles before she was finally defeated by Wallace.

Finally, the top seed in Pool 4 was Yuko, the younger trainer with a powerful team of Eevee evolutions that placed third the previous year, which was an incredible accomplishment being that it was only his second league tournament appearance. This year was his third time competing in the big tournament, and he was seeded very high. Holden also noticed something unexpected. He recognized one of the people competing in Pool 4, a young girl with big glasses and wearing all black. It was Roxy, one of his roommates. _She competed in pokémon battles_? He had no idea she was a pokémon trainer, yet here she was at the National Championship.

He had to be sure first, and there was one person who knew her. "Hey Berto, is that Roxy over there?" he asked for confirmation.

Berto looked in the direction Holden was pointing, and nearly leapt out of his seat. "Holy crap! That's Roxy! What the hell is she doing down there battling pokémon?"

When he turned to see Holden's response, he was just smiling. "Looks like there's more to her than meets the eye," he said to Berto. They both laughed and watched with intrigue to see how she did. When she battled, her team was very strong, and she won numerous battles in her pool. In addition, it was the first time Holden had ever heard Roxy usher any words, though they were limited to attack commands for her pokémon. Finally, Roxy suffered defeat at the hands of Yuko, but her run in the tournament was definitely impressive.

At one point, Holden left to go acquire some coffee when he ran into a familiar face. "Holden?" a young girl greeted him. It was Kelly, his first opponent from the championship last year. "I don't know if you remember me, but I'm Kelly. We competed against each other last year, and you beat me in the first match." She had colored her hair blue now, and had a plaid sweater and black wrist bands. Overall, she appeared far more confident than a year ago.

Holden recognized her shortly after, but didn't want to dwell on the negative fight result. "Good to see you again. You're competing again this year?"

She smiled when he responded to her, but it was followed with a sigh. "Yeah, I was in Pool 4, but I'm already eliminated."

"Sorry to hear that," Holden admitted. "It's good that you kept at it. Don't give up."

"Holden, can I tell you something?" she brought up suddenly. He stayed put and granted her an audience, noticing her suddenly get serious. "Last year, when you beat my entire team with just one pokémon, I wanted to give up my quest. It was so hard to lose like that, after I spent so many months training. In fact, I really think I would have given up. But then, after the match, you told me those things. You told me there's always the possibility of failure, which is what makes victory worth anything. You also told me not to let my weakness show, or else it would weaken my pokémon." She shook her head back and forth to keep focused. She was determined to finish her statement to Holden. "Well, this year, the battles were hard but I won. I kept on winning, and when my team started to lose, I didn't let my fear cause me to lose faith. I can honestly say I fought to the absolute end with my team, and they didn't quit either. We may have fallen short in the end, but we won three matches in a row before we did. So I have to thank you, Holden, for what you told me last year. Thank you so much." She held out her hand and Holden took it with a strong handshake. He recalled the tournament last year, and was suddenly grateful for giving her the attention he did. This was a powerful and driven young trainer who had a bright future ahead, and he was glad to have contributed to it in even the slightest fashion.

Once the conversation was over, Holden looked around and a thought came to his head. "Who are you here with, Kelly?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "It's just me."

"You traveled all the way here by yourself just to compete?" It was a tall order for someone so young.

"Well, yes. What other choice did I have? This is how I'll grow stronger."

This only further displayed the potential Kelly had. Regardless, Holden felt it would be wrong not to offer her friendship. "Would you like to come hang with my friends?"

Her eyes grew wide with excitement. "That would be awesome! I've been pretty lonely out here." With that decided, Holden led Kelly back over to the rest of the gang, and introduced her to Ash and the others. Everyone welcomed her with kindness, and she fit in right away, which increased the circle of friends by one.

After nearly seven hours passed, the pools came to an end for the day. The final results saw 8 trainers moving on to the final 16: Diantha and Harley from Pool 1, Iris and Proton from Pool 2, Wallace and Koga from Pool 3, and finally Yuko and Rory from Pool 4. The day's battles had been very exciting and the fans were in good spirits from the spectacle. Everyone moved on to the festival activities and enjoyed the evening of celebrating the winners. This was still only the first day, and there was much more to come.

Eventually, Serena was free to reconvene with her friends. She told everyone about her interviews and meetings during the event, while Holden and Ash filled her in on the battle results from the first day. Everyone was excited and caught up in the energy of the festival, and for a brief period of time, Holden was able to escape from the stress of what was at stake for him. Serena held his hand and seemed to forget about it as well, until eventually she noticed he was beginning to zone out gradually. After spending some time enjoying the festival, Serena leaned over to whisper in Holden's ear. "You want to leave already, don't you?"

He looked at her suspiciously, but nodded. "Come with me." He took her hand and led her away this time, waving goodbye to their friends before taking off. The two of them went farther out until they reached the quiet outer reach of the tournament grounds, where the desert lied ahead. Once there, Holden released all six of his pokémon and they gathered in a line before him. Serena stood back and watched curiously, as Holden walked over to them one by one, ending with Scizor. It was as if he was speaking to them, giving them final instructions before the big day began. Knowing Holden, Serena figured he was telling them these things tonight so they would be able to go to sleep with the important words on their minds.

Finally, Holden actually bowed down on the ground before the pokémon. One by one, they rose up as high as they could, as if they were posturing over him. Finally, they all finished their display, and Holden rose back up to his feet. After that, he began returning all of them to their orbs, and then everything was silent again.

Serena waited until Holden walked back over to her, and then she broke the silence. "What was that all about?"

He pulled Serena over to him gently. "It was a show of respect. I announced to them that my fate was in their hands. But I also told them as long as they never gave up, I wouldn't either." It was some deep words, but Holden had a relationship with his pokémon that had spiritual connections to it, and Serena respected that. It was part of what made his team so powerful.

They would need to be strong for the challenges that awaited them tomorrow.


	10. Chapter 28

CHAPTER 28.

The next morning, Serena woke up in the hotel room, and noticed Holden was not in bed, even though it was still really early. She yawned and stretched before pulling off the blankets and setting her feet on the floor. Holden's slippers were still by the bed, so she figured he hadn't gone far. Once she got up, she shivered from the sudden chill of being away from the warm bed, so she picked up Holden's blue jacket and put it on before venturing out of the bedroom. She predicted Holden's location, and sure enough, he was out on the balcony. Once she opened the screen door, he turned his head to look at her with a welcoming smile. "I didn't want to wake you up," he explained.

"You didn't," she said to relieve him. "Well, not really. I just woke up randomly…maybe because it was less warm without you there." She stood over him and massaged his shoulders, letting her hair fall down his back to tickle his neck. "You should get some more rest, Holden."

"No," he said in retort. "I think I've had enough rest. I don't want to rest again until I've won the tournament."

He was so driven, even this early in the day, and Serena didn't want to be an obstacle for him. Still, she felt it would be best to stay calm for the time being, what with the tournament not continuing for another five hours. "Then, if you're not going back to bed…I'm gonna sit out here with you." She did just that, bundling up next to him to help stay warm. She buried her face against his shoulder and rubbed his back as she sat there.

The two of them sat there for a long time. The placid silence they shared was just the medicine they both needed before facing what was to come. Holden was too focused on his final goal to give her the gratitude he knew she deserved at the time, but he would soon…once it was over. After all, she had supported him all this time, in ways he never would have imagined.

Eventually, it was time to get back to the arena. Everyone freshened up and made it out the doors on time, quickly returning to prepare for Day 2. This was the bigger day, of course, since Pools 5 through 8 were taking place, which included Holden and Ash. Serena had more media obligations to attend, so she hurried off to take care of them so that hopefully she wouldn't miss any of Holden or Ash's matches. At the very least, she'd vowed she wouldn't miss the finals on Day 3. That left Professor Oak, Clemont, Bonnie, Berto, and now Kelly to stay and watch their friends compete. They also received access to the special guest seating section today, though they would have to switch between the seating area for Pool 5 and Pool 8 if they were going to watch both their friends.

Before heading out to make the final preparations for their matches, Holden and Ash shook hands and wished each other luck. They had been great friends since their first meeting and there was something additional they received from the overall experience by sharing in it together.

Pool 5 started things off, and Holden didn't have to wait long for his first match. He was taking on a fellow Kanto region trainer named Richie. Also similar to Holden, his entire team came from the Kanto region. However, the match was a quick one, with Holden claiming the victory without breaking a sweat.

Despite the end result, Holden looked really stressed, and Berto leaned over to Clemont. "Is it just me, or is our golden boy looking really worked up over something?"

Clemont tried to get a good look at Holden's face. "Hmm, maybe you're right. I guess there's so much more at stake for him this time and he's probably really stressed over it."

"It's just a tournament," said Berto. "What's the big deal?"

Bonnie gave Berto a stern look, even though he was twice as tall as she was. "Holden's competing for his entire school this year! He has to win or his students won't get to compete in league tournaments. That was the deal he made with the Pokémon League." Clemont looked embarrassed as he grabbed his little sister to restrain her.

However, Berto felt her response was warranted. "I had no idea," he confessed while he rubbed his beard with his right hand as he weighed Holden's actions. His respect for Holden went up more now that he knew this piece of information.

Holden's second match was against Melissa, a talented female trainer with an all-female team of pokémon. She fought with great aggression, sending out Jynx, Bellossom, and Clefable to attack Holden's team with everything she had, knowing how dangerous an opponent he was. Holden's Snorlax took several hits on account of the blitz, and he ended up needing to call him back to send out Alakazam. Once the psychic pokémon was on the field, the tables turned right away. Unlike Snorlax, Alakazam was designed to use his opponent's aggression against them, and Melissa's pokémon wasted their energy trying to charge in while Alakazam kept using his powers to nullify their attacks. Finally, he got the victory for Holden, and once again Holden was looking stressed.

After winning his second match, Holden went out of sight and sat down. He released Scizor from his orb and the praying mantis pokémon stood over Holden and inspected him. "I don't know if I can do this," he muttered, though he knew his companion heard him. "Even if I beat all these people, how are we gonna stop Diantha?" He looked up into Scizor's mysterious eyes. "You've been my team leader for many years. I couldn't be more proud of you. But me…"

Suddenly, Scizor reached forward with his right claw and seized Holden's shoulder. He squeezed it, and Holden's eyes winced from the pain. Scizor was looking into Holden's eyes and he growled low. Eventually, Holden was going to have to command his pokémon to let go, and Scizor was going to wait to see how long it would take. Holden seemed to realize what was happening, and he was stubborn and refused to give the order. Now he was staring back at Scizor with a calm face, the same one he always displayed when he competed. Scizor saw the look and pressed the claws just a little tighter, but Holden's face remained motionless. Finally, Scizor nodded, and then he completely released Holden's shoulder. Holden rubbed his shoulder, trying to massage the pain so it would go away, but he smiled at Scizor. "Guess I deserved that." This had been Scizor's version of a pep talk.

Going into his third match of the day, Holden felt rejuvenated. The audience was really starting to get behind him as well, as he took on a young woman named Raven, who was said to have the strongest Umbreon in the world. After Holden's Scizor made short work of the first two pokémon, out came the Umbreon to make up for the setback. Scizor started to fatigue during this part of the battle, though he wanted to continue. However, Holden recognized it and called him back anyway, electing to choose Venusaur next. Umbreon had a large amount of durability, and could heal with his abilities constantly, so Venusaur had to put a stop to that. The grass pokémon used a combination of leech seed, stun spore, and toxic to overwhelm Umbreon's health and acquire Holden's third win of the day.

Holden's fourth opponent was Sasuke, a trainer from the Hoenn region. Despite this being deeper in the pool, Holden returned to his old ways and wiped out Sasuke's entire team using only Lapras. The fans watching cheered loudly, especially Holden's friends, and things started to really turn out well for him. His following had only gotten stronger from last year, and word of what he was competing for had spread as well, which only drew in more support for his cause.

Holden had one more match in his pool today, and it was against Marigold, a Johto trainer. The spectators cheered loudly and every action Holden's pokémon took was met with applause, which seemed to upset Marigold quite a bit. He sent out a Quagsire to take on Holden's Lapras, and after a drawn out battle, Lapras scored the first knock out. Next, Marigold sent out Machamp, a Kanto pokémon, which had the fighting type advantage over Lapras. However, Lapras unleashed a torrent of ice beams and the Machamp simply couldn't deal with the damage. Instead of sending out his third pokémon, Marigold actually waved the match off, which made the Holden the winner. There was great applause, but Holden rushed over to Marigold, apparently unhappy with the ending. "Why did you stop? Don't give up," he was saying, but Marigold shook Holden's hand and smiled.

"You're too strong for me, Holden. I'm not going to send any more of my pokémon out to get hurt against your team. Not this time. You're going to win it all this year. I can sense it. Next year, however, I'll be much stronger."

Somehow, the words made some degree of sense to Holden, and he accepted the outcome after that. He had succeeded in reaching the top 16 now, so at least that was out of the way. He raised a fist in the air in response to the roaring crowds which caused them to shout even louder. He had to admit, it felt good to hear them. It felt really good. The other person to make the top two in Pool 5 was Jerry, who was a strong trainer from Sinnoh, but who would most likely start off the top 16 as the lowest seeded trainer due to his lack of overall experience.

Once his matches were done, Holden went back to sit with his friends. Unfortunately, Serena had missed all his matches since she was tied up with her media obligations, but Holden didn't mind. After all, he had been the one to insist she do it, since it would help increase her popularity with the image she was cultivating for herself as a performer. Everyone else present congratulated Holden on his victories, and quickly began to gather their belongings to hurry over to watch what was left of Ash's matches.

Ash was in Pool 8, which started more than an hour after Holden's pool did. There were television monitors hanging from the rafters above so that viewers could watch matches from all four pools at all times, and they had already seen Ash win his first battle. Now that Holden's pool was completed, the gang wanted to go watch him compete up close in the special seating for Pool 8. They got there just in time to see Ash begin his second match. After a back and forth battle, Ash was once again victorious. Now that Holden was done with his matches for the day, he was happy to have the chance to sit and cheer for Ash. However, after Ash won his second battle, Holden left to go be in Ash's corner to give him coaching in between battles. Ash ended up winning the next two battles, but ran into trouble during his fifth and final match of the day. His opponent was a woman named Annabelle, and her Pidgeot was a fearsome force, apparently being the strongest Pidgeot in the world. Ash led out with Pikachu, which helped him to beat Annabelle's first two pokémon, but by the time Pidgeot came out, Pikachu was low on health. Pidgeot ended up being so powerful and relentless that Ash's Greninja and Talonflame couldn't take it out, and he lost the battle in a stunning upset.

Despite being disappointed over the loss, Ash remained a class act the entire way, and his response from the audience was massive. He still remained a polarizing figure in the pokémon world, and Holden was very proud to see him receive the standing ovation he did. After soaking in the cheers for a few moments, Ash returned to Holden and shook his hand. "It's up to you now, Holden. I'll be rooting for you the entire way." Holden nodded and made sure Ash knew he was committed to doing his absolute best.

When the battles were all over, the top two winners from each pool had been decided: Holden and Jerry from 5, Steven Stone and Dwyer from 6, Bruno and Assunta from 7, Takako and Annabelle from 8. They would join the 8 winners from the day before and the top 16 bracket would be re-seeded to deliver the biggest possible thrills for the viewers watching. Tomorrow would be the final day of competition.

Later in the evening, Serena finally rejoined her friends. She kept on apologizing for missing their matches, especially to Ash. He insisted he didn't mind and that he was glad she was being responsible to her work. The friends all laughed and went to grab some food and drinks. There was still a festival here that went on for hours, and they were going to enjoy themselves. For now, it was all part of the experience and there was no need to forsake it.

Occasionally, fans would approach and request autographs from Serena and Holden. Both of them had reached popular levels in their fields, especially among the youth attending the festival. Every single time, Serena smiled and granted every request to come through, encouraging Holden to match her as well. Kids began giving away pokéballs, candy, and other treats as tributes for their accomplishments, and when they did, Serena passed it down to their friends. Bonnie was especially happy with the treats. One girl even brought over several balloons and gave them away for free, so Serena strapped two of them to Holden's backpack as he was walking. He gave her an angry look but ultimately broke down in laughter.

There was a stage with a show going on, which caught Bonnie's eye. She asked the others if they could watch the show, and no one objected. It was some sort of simulation of dragon pokémon, and the settings shifted from grass and fields, to mountains and clouds. They showcased dragons being capable of going anywhere, suggesting there were many mysteries still surrounding them yet to be discovered. As Holden was watching, he thought about Lance, Iris, and the other dragon trainers in the pokémon world, which was a small number. It was no easy feat dedicating to this field, but it certainly granted access to a degree of prestige upon reaching success.

After the dragon show, large numbers of students from schools gathered on stage to begin performing as well. Some were playing instruments while others were dancing. Eventually, a few of them climbed off the stage and tried to get Serena to go and join them. She smiled and tried to say no, but after they kept on trying to get her to change her mind, she finally did. What resulted was a fun dance where Serena showed off a few moves. She also released Braixen, Pancham, and Sylveon, so her pokémon could join the fun as well. The entire time, Holden watched with enjoyment at the fun everyone was having. More than anything, however, he got to see how Serena handled being in the spotlight, and she was nothing short of a natural. Somehow, she was always positive, and her presence was intoxicating to bear witness to.

Eventually, the show came to an end, and after bowing to the supportive crowds, Serena rejoined her friends. She gave Holden a hug to thank him for his patience, though he never mentioned anything. After all, it was common for Serena to be on the stage, and Holden would have to get used to it one way or another. If anything, it was a good experience for both of them.

Eventually, it got later in the evening, and Holden decided to call it a night. The others wanted to stay out longer, so he said goodnight to them. Serena wanted to stay with him, though he tried to encourage her to stay out longer. It didn't matter, though, for she stayed with him regardless of what he told her. With all he was competing for, Serena was determined to support him as much as possible.

It had been a fun evening at the festival, but tomorrow, it would be time to go back to work.


	11. Chapter 29

CHAPTER 29.

The next day, Holden was up early once again, but it was for an important reason. He got a copy of the top 16 bracket so he could finally see where he would be placed in the seeding. Out of 16 combatants, Holden was ranked number 7, which was a solid placing. After all, it was mostly regional champions who were ranked above him. One thing he noticed right away was that he was on the opposite end of the bracket from Diantha, who was obviously ranked number 1. If the two of them were to meet in a match, it would be in the finals.

One thing Holden hadn't considered was that there was a chance he could actually end up in a tie with Diantha. That wasn't going to linger on his mind for long, though, because he knew the only way to assure he would win for his academy was to clearly outplace her, not try to argue over a tie. As far as winning the entire tournament went, Holden was four wins away from the championship.

News of Holden's deal with Diantha became known by fans and spectators, which seemed to only alleviate the hype to unprecedented levels. Holden may have actually deserved an even higher ranking, at least in the eyes of many fans. Rumors spread that Diantha had manipulated the bracket construction to ensure that Holden would be opposite of her, so that she would hopefully not have to face him in battle if another trainer eliminated him first. Even though Diantha had legions of fans, Holden had fans now too, and they were beginning to stand up for his cause without him even asking them to.

During the top 16, only one match went on at a time, and the entire stadium seating was moved in on a railing system, deploying a special new battlefield in the center to be used for the remainder of the tournament. In just one night, all these changes had been put into place, so that everything was ready to go the next day when the spectators returned to witness the historical pokémon tournament.

While Holden was competing, Ash would be in his corner to provide coaching. Giving out coaching tips was illegal during the battles, but in between matches, Ash and Holden were able to discuss the likely scenarios of the next opponent. Only one coach was permitted for each combatant, so Ash was very proud to be there for Holden. While that was going on, Serena was sitting in one of the front rows, along with Professor Oak, Clemont, Bonnie, Berto, and Kelly. All the spectators were filled to the brim with excitement for the battles to come.

The first battle of the day would be Diantha versus Jerry. At first, his Empoleon scored a knockout over Diantha's Goodra, which sparked a lot of intrigue from the spectators watching. However, her Tyrantrum ran amok after that, eliminating the rest of Jerry's team with relative ease. Once again, Diantha was victorious, which put the ball in Holden's court. If he lost his next match, then he would lose the challenge with her as well.

Next was Yuko versus Takako, in a battle of two runner ups from last year's top 8. Yuko was the greatest Eevee trainer in the pokémon world, with a team of all 8 different Eevee evolutions at his disposal, though he could only register six of them for the entirety of the National Championship. On the other side was Takako, who was popular for his decision to use six different starting pokémon from six different regions in the pokémon world. Unlike the first match of the day, the two trainers had a close back and forth battle. Yuko's Vaporeon first eliminated Takako's Infernape, only to next be beaten by the Meganium counter pick. Next, Yuko sent out his Flareon and it was victorious against Meganium. In retaliation, Takako sent out Greninja, hoping to make the comeback. Greninja defeated Flareon, and it came down to Yuko's Sylveon versus Takako's Greninja. Finally, Sylveon was the last one standing, and Yuko advanced in the tournament.

Before the third battle began, Berto suddenly came back from grabbing some food with an announcement. "Hey everybody, look who I found out in the festival!" Everyone in the group looked and saw the large glasses of Roxy, Holden's roommate, who turned out to be a powerful pokémon trainer. Berto laughed and nudged the quiet girl forward, encouraging her to introduce herself. When she refused, Berto just did it for her. "This is Roxy. She lives with Holden and me back in Lumiose. And until yesterday, none of us even knew she was a pokémon trainer."

Even with the welcoming words, Roxy was devoid of any emotion. She mostly kept her gaze toward the ground, as if looking at others would cause her pain. She was wearing a black t shirt and gray cap over her brown hair. It was hard to imagine she'd made a deep run in the grandest pokémon tournament of the year.

It was Serena who addressed Roxy first. "Hi there, Roxy. I'm Serena, and it's a pleasure to meet you. I am very sorry for never introducing myself to you before, especially considering I've been to your house on more than one occasion."

Though the situation had a degree of awkwardness to it, Roxy barely reacted. She merely shrugged her shoulders and tipped her chin toward Serena, as if she didn't mind in the slightest. With no words to contribute, Roxy glanced away, suggesting she intended to run off now that her social obligation was complete.

However, Berto kept his arms behind her to obstruct her path of retreat. "No, no, no you don't! You've been hiding all this time from us, little one! This time, you're staying to do some bonding. I don't open my arms of friendship to just anybody you know!" Even while Berto acted like Roxy was about to run away, she made no such attempt, though she clearly longed to be alone as she was used to. Despite her mood, and in spite of the kind words to her, it was Bonnie's innocent smile which caught her attention. Roxy walked over and motioned toward the seat next to Bonnie, and the young girl offered it to her. At least, now Roxy was sitting with the group.

Eventually, it was time for the third match of the day: Koga versus Proton. This was a battle of Elite Four's premier poison trainer against the powerhouse trio of the up and coming trainer. What made Proton so unique in this tournament is that he didn't register six pokémon for his team: he only registered three. His team consisted of Sableye, Blastoise, and Tyranitar, which made his lineup predictable, though they were anything but easy to beat. His strategy was to put tons of time and training into his powerhouse trio, and set them loose on the competition. It had gotten him this far after all. The battle was soon underway. Koga led off with Venomoth, while Proton chose Blastoise. The giant turtle pokémon chased his foe around the field, launching water attacks his way, but Venomoth moved to evade the barrage while leaving trails of stun spore and poison powder in his wake. Ultimately, Blastoise landed a direct hit from hydro pump which knocked Venomoth out of the air, though he was badly worn out and poisoned in the process. Koga sent Crobat next, and made short work of Blastoise from there. Proton's second pick was Sableye, who used a variety of special type attacks to disorient Crobat. Even so, the bat pokémon was incredibly fast, and Sableye was unable to match his speed. To make up for it, Sableye used his confuse ray and while Crobat was unable to focus, Sableye revealed he had psychic attacks, which were super effective and took down Crobat. That forced Koga to make a tough decision, and he went with Toxicroak, his newest team member. The poison and fighting type struggled with the type battle, but he would be a valuable choice once Proton was left with only Tyranitar, whose greatest weakness was fighting type moves. Sure enough, Toxicroak managed to thwart Sableye by using dark type attacks, which were strong enough to get the job done. After that, out came Tyranitar, Proton's final pick. As expected, Toxicroak landed a lot of painful moves on the large but slow Tyranitar, but it was still an uphill battle after being worn out from fighting Sableye. With his pokémon nearly spent, Proton's Tyranitar managed to land an earthquake which caught Toxicroak with a critical hit and scored the knock out. It was the first upset of the day as Proton overcame Koga's resilience in battle to defeat the Elite Four member.

Battle number 4 was Steven Stone facing off against Rory. Steven Stone was the former Hoenn Regional Champion, and was known for always beginning his battles with Metagross, his strongest pokémon. Rory was a young trainer who preferred electric and fire types, embracing a style of aggression complimented by those forces. A Rotom fused with heat was his most recognizable pokémon, being both electric and fire type, and it was his starter for this battle as well. Despite a strong showing, Rotom's offense was not enough to overcome Metagross, and he was eventually defeated. Rory sent out Pyroar next, and his fire blasts were enough to overwhelm the steel type Metagross. Steven Stone barely seemed worried, and he fought with style and grace as he sent out Skarmory next. The tradeoff knockouts continued as Skarmory swooped in and struck Pyroar before the male lion pokémon could catch him with a fire blast. Rory's final pick was Electivire, who packed a heavy thunder punch which quickly shocked Skarmory out of the sky. Finally, Steven Stone picked Aggron for his final choice, and the two of them fought to the point of near total exhaustion. Rory's Electivire gave a good showing before finally collapsing, and Steven Stone picked up the hard fought win thanks to Aggron's durability in battle.

Ash was watching closely when the fifth battle of the day began, pitting Annabelle's team against Iris, who was bringing her dragon team to the National Championship for the first time. When the battle began, Iris wasted no time giving confident commands to her Salamence, who made quick work of Annabelle's entire team, including her top-rated Pidgeot. Iris won the entire match using only Salamence, and scored the first shutout of the top 16.

The next match was yet another shutout, as Wallace, the Regional Champion from Hoenn, locked horns with Assunta; the talented trainer from the Kanto region. Though Assunta made it far with her formidable team, she was out of her league against Wallace, and the Pokémon League Council member won the battle using only his Milotic.

Battle number seven was young upstart Dwyer against Bruno from the Elite Four in the Kanto region. Everyone was surprised to see Dwyer act with extreme rudeness when he claimed his opponent was a weakling and poor representative of pokémon trainers. Bruno was a fighter by nature, and he intended to put Dwyer in his place, only it didn't go so well. Dwyer's Gengar actually defeated all three of Bruno's fighting pokémon, resulting in a stunning sweep by the underdog against a very legitimate adversary. That didn't change the fact that Dwyer was heavily booed by the spectators for his trash talk and rude behavior.

Finally, Holden's match with Harley was ready to begin. The reason it had been delayed so much was that Harley had stalled, hoping to delay the inevitable. She was a good trainer, but she didn't believe she could compete against Holden with any hope of victory, which appeared to fulfill the end result she most feared. Holden's Lapras swept Harley's entire team, granting him a well-needed easy victory to help his team have more time to rest and recover from the battles of yesterday.

The first round of the top 16 was over, and only 8 combatants remained. In the next round, it would be Diantha versus Yuko, Steven Stone versus Proton, Iris versus Holden, and Wallace versus Dwyer. There would only be less than an hour for the trainers to let their pokémon rest before the battles picked right back up.

Holden had the chance to go visit his friends in the spectator seats, where he met Roxy officially for the first time, and also where he got to see Serena again. She gave Holden a comforting hug and kissed his ear as she whispered positive thoughts into it. He smiled at her and held her in his arms, grateful for her support. His next opponent was only a young girl, but Iris was no slouch. She was a Regional Champion, and one of the most talented dragon trainers to ever live…even at only age 17. If Holden underestimated her, he could easily be overpowered by her strength.

The next round of matches took place soon enough, and the results left the audience reeling with excitement. Unfortunately for Holden, Diantha made short work of the talented Eevee trainer Yuko, beating his entire team using only her trademark Gardevoir. Steven Stone had a close battle with Proton, but once again edged out the win thanks to another strong start from his Metagross. In the third battle, and the one that would determine Holden's next opponent if he was victorious, a shocking upset occurred when Dwyer beat Wallace's entire team…using only his Slaking. Dwyer's trash talk only increased as a result, and he continued to bad mouth the Pokémon League, claiming their representatives were all chumps, and that he was going to expose all of them today. It felt as though Dwyer didn't have even one single fan in the stadium, yet he persisted with his low class antics. That didn't change the fact that he was a very powerful trainer who seemingly came out of nowhere.

That left Holden to face Iris next, and he would be fighting for his school's future once again as he attempted to keep up with Diantha's place in the tournament. Up to this point, Iris was the only competitor in the tournament to have not lost a single pokémon in any of her matches. Her dragons were so powerful that they could run entire battles by themselves. Even so, Holden was confident in his preparations for this dangerous opponent. Whether or not she was powerful, he knew what was at stake and was determined to seize the victory. Besides, he couldn't let his nerves distract him, for there was no room for any mistakes.

The match began with Holden's Lapras against Iris's Salamence. It was a good first pick for Holden, and the ice type advantage helped him gain the first knockout, and a morale booster after being the first opponent of Iris to actually knock out one of her pokémon. Right away, she bounced back strong with Aggron, who landed some heavy rock type attacks which devastated Lapras before she could land any significant offense. Holden had to go with Kangaskhan for his next pick, since the kangaroo pokémon was versed in fighting moves, which could do heavy damage to Aggron. Unfortunately, Aggron was strong enough to defeat Kangaskhan anyway, which was a heavy blow to Holden. Now, he was behind in the battle, and one pokémon away from being eliminated. Being in the toughest spot he'd been in the entire tournament, Holden went with Scizor for his last pick. Aggron attempted to go all out with its powerful moves, hoping to land just one devastating attack on Scizor, but Holden's most trusted companion had been instructed to avoid taking any blows while moving in to land the knockout strike. He did just that, eventually catching Aggron with a brick break attack that did the job. For her final pick, Iris went with Druddigon, expecting her powerful dragon to win the day for her. She shouted out commands with loud volume, but that allowed Holden's Scizor to foresee the incoming significant attacks. Thanks to the training he'd received from Holden, Scizor was able to time his counter attacks accordingly, and then he landed a bullet punch which caught Druddigon diving in, thus making it a critical hit. Druddigon collapsed onto the ground, and the audience cheered in great volume as Holden pulled off yet another victory, albeit a very close one.

Holden exhaled in relief when he saw Scizor win it for him. That had been the closest match of the tournament for him, but once again, he kept the dream alive. As soon as it was over, he wanted to go find his friends and feel their love for him, but there was no time. The matches were going to carry on, and he needed to win again in short time. This was his deepest run ever in a National Championship, and the pace was beyond anything he'd ever experienced before, though he reminded himself there was additional pressure thanks to his challenge with Diantha.

There were only four combatants left in the tournament now, and it would come down to Diantha versus Steven Stone, and Holden versus Dwyer. Diantha's match would take place first, and Holden could only watch and hope that she finally lost, thus giving Holden an edge in his side bet with her. He doubted Dwyer was a real threat to his team, but he knew without a doubt that if he had to face Diantha in the finals, then it would be nearly impossible to beat her. This was getting down to the wire, and Holden wouldn't miss even a second of the next battle.


	12. Chapter 30

CHAPTER 30.

It was time for the semifinals to begin, and the first match was Diantha versus Steven Stone. Holden was standing off to the side with Ash, bearing witness to the epic battle of two pokémon greats in the world of training. It was hard for Holden to see Diantha losing to anyone, but Steven Stone's team was certainly strong enough to pull it off. These were two regional champions about to battle, so either one of them was capable of being victorious. As Holden weighed their odds silently, the big question on his mind was whether or not Steven Stone's team had any answer for Diantha's Gardevoir.

After they shook hands, Diantha and Steven Stone jumped into the battle, pitting her Gourgeist against his Metagross. It was a good showing by both, as they traded attacks with one another until finally Diantha returned her Gourgeist to its orb. When she did, there was a noticeable amount of boos coming from the crowd, and Holden observed the strange play as well. Surely, her Gourgeist could have taken more punishment than that? Was it possible…_they were going easy on each other to increase her chances of winning the title once again_? Holden clenched his fist, trying not to let his mind succumb to such insecurity, but it was tough. He would be watching very closely to see if more evidence of this theory came to light.

Diantha's next pick was Tyrantrum, and Steven Stone returned his Metagross to his orb, which resulted in heavy booing from the crowd now. There was no way to justify pulling out his trademark pokémon when it had so much fight still in it. His second pick was Armaldo, but the fans were beginning to shower both combatants with their displeasure. Diantha and Steven Stone sighed as they tried not to pay attention, but it was inevitable and they both looked away, trying to figure out why the crowd was so restless. When they returned their attention to the battle, they both looked very angry, and they raised their voices as they shouted out commands to attack. Holden grinned as he watched the battle pick up in intensity, and the audience went back to cheering again. It appeared the fans made sure that the two friends weren't going to get away with going light on each other here in the semifinals. Eventually, Diantha switched to Gardevoir and used her mega stone to turn her to Mega Gardevoir. With such overwhelming power now at her disposal, Mega Gardevoir took out Armaldo with relative ease. Steven Stone's last pick was Cradily, rather than his Aggron, which would have been a much stronger choice. Cradily attempted to use confuse ray and giga drain to begin to work on wearing out Mega Gardevoir, but Diantha's signature pokémon quickly wiped out Cradily and gave her the big win. Diantha was going to the finals.

Holden covered his face with both hands, knowing now that confirmed he would have the toughest path to the winning for his school now. He half expected it to go that way, but still seeing it go down as it did was hard for him. Even now, the audience was still showing a lot of anger towards the tactics displayed from both combatants, and it was surprising to hear them get so vocal. Once the announcers informed the viewers that Holden was fighting next, he received very strong cheers. However, Dwyer got an even worse response from the crowd than the last match, as his trash talk had made everyone grow to hate him right away. This was so different for Holden, as he'd never been on the receiving end of cheers from the crowd like this. He had no idea how to handle being in this position when he thought about it, but he didn't think about it long. What mattered was winning the entire tournament now, and that was what needed his full focus.

When it came time for Holden to face off with Dwight Myers, known as Dwyer, the cocky trainer hadn't eased up on his antics. He had on a black and white cap turned sideways, and he wore glasses. He had red streaks colored over his orange hair, and he wore a black shirt with an upside down smiley face in white. From the looks of it, Holden guessed Dwyer may have spent more time on his outfit than actually training. Antics aside, Holden knew better than to underestimate this adversary, since not only had Dwyer made it this far in the tournament, he'd also swept his last two opponents in Bruno and Wallace; a member of the Elite Four and the Hoenn Regional Champion. It seemed almost impossible he could be that good.

It was time to announce starters to the referee. When the ref finished the countdown, Dwyer waited half a second late before announcing his. Right away, the ref caught on to it. "Foul committed," he announced and waved his arms. "Trainer did not respond at the appropriate time. Penalty is opponent gets to counter the first choice now."

Dwyer quickly held his arms up to protest. "That's a lie! I said my pick right when you counted down! Don't be ridiculous!" As he fought with the ref, the crowd began booing at his behavior, further demonstrating that Dwyer was bringing a level of rudeness that was not welcome here.

Holden just watched quietly, staying calm as he thought it over. It was like his old instincts were kicking in, and he wanted to show how powerful he was at all times. Therefore, he was going to go with what he knew, regardless of the stakes. "He gave his pick on time," Holden supported Dwyer's claim, though he knew it was obviously a lie. The ref stared at Holden and was about to insist, but Holden shook his head. "I have no opposition. Let's just battle already." Finally, seeing that Holden wasn't going to protest the cheap tactic, the referee canceled the foul.

Surprised at Holden's decision, Dwyer gave an ugly smirk underneath is glasses. "Figured you wouldn't want to resort to a cheap advantage in our battle. That would tarnish the victory, after all. Still though, you're not gonna show me anything I haven't already seen before. This is _my_ tournament now." His confidence mixed with arrogance was astounding, and Holden remained silent. He saw himself from years ago in this young man, and comparing the similarities made him feel sick.

It was time to put everything else aside and start the battle. Holden's first pick had been Snorlax, and by delaying the extra half second, Dwyer had managed to sneak in a counter pick of Conkeldurr. Holden's pride landed him at an early type disadvantage, and Conkeldurr started grappling with Snorlax and landing heavy strikes. Snorlax tried to use his size to smother his foe, and attempted some body slams, but Conkeldurr was too strong for it to work. He ended up landing a huge bomb to Snorlax's head which downed him and the first win belonged to Dwyer. Holden sighed, and sent out Lapras next. Though she was vulnerable to fighting attacks, Lapras used her water and ice attacks to bombard Conkeldurr, preventing him from getting close enough to land any hits. Finally, he collapsed from the effects of the ice beams, and Dwyer cursed as he called him back. For the first time today, one of Dwyer's team had been knocked out.

Though he was angry, Dwyer quickly reverted back to his smug laughter, and sent out Gengar next. The ghost pokémon was fast and had dangerous techniques which could disorient Lapras. Holden watched as his powerful water pokémon kept up the assault of special attacks, but Dwyer's Gengar moved very quickly and kept out of harm's way. Lapras was slowing down more and more as she was worn out from Gengar's confuse ray blasts. Finally, Gengar got Lapras asleep with hypnosis and attacked with dream eater. Holden saw that Lapras was in trouble, but he held on a bit longer. He put his faith into her ability and strength, but this was pushing the limits. Then Gengar went in close, as if to taunt Lapras, which was no doubt a ploy that Dwyer had taught him to do. Suddenly, Lapras woke up and immediately fired an ice beam which hit Gengar head on since he was so close, and that scored the shocking knock out.

This time, Dwyer was very noticeably annoyed. He returned Gengar and waited to see what Holden would do before sending out his next pick. Holden was keen to Dwyer's tricks, but he also knew there was no way Lapras was staying out there any longer. Still, rather than predictably switch pokémon, Holden decided to try another tactic: taunting. "You love to counter pick, don't you?" Holden called out to his foe.

"I figured you'd seek an excuse," countered Dwyer. "That's to be expected. You're inferior pokémon need all the help they can get." After hearing him speak, Holden highly doubted Dwyer even believed those words himself. This young man was starting to realize he was up against someone better than him, and now he was trying to throw things off with that mouth of his. It wasn't going to work. "Fine then, Holden," Dwyer said, continuing to try his best. "I'll choose first." Sure enough, Dwyer sent out his final pick: Scizor. He had a Scizor just like Holden did, and the newest challenge was clear enough. He wanted them to both fight their two identical pokémon.

Holden recalled Lapras at last, and analyzed the situation. He definitely wanted to have his Scizor fight Dwyer's, and he knew his pokémon would love the opportunity. However, he needed Scizor at full strength for the battle against Diantha, considering he had the best typing to take on the powerful Gardevoir. Though it was difficult for him to commit to it, Holden stayed with the plan. He did not send out Scizor, and instead chose to assign the task to Kangaskhan.

There were howls of laughter from Dwyer. "You're pathetic, dude. I should have known you'd chicken out. You didn't even pick a good typing for this match. I expected more out of you. Oh well." Scizor charged in, but spread out with double team to make his approach difficult to pinpoint. Kangaskhan actually went _forward_, right into the incoming Scizor, which was what Holden had trained her to do when an opponent used this move. Somehow, by charging directly into an approaching pokémon using double team, it would catch the pokémon off guard and make it cover up to defend instead of trying an attack. Sure enough, Scizor crossed both his claws across his face to defend, thus giving away the position of the real one among the fake doubles. Kangaskhan landed a variety of punches, though most were blocked. Scizor abandoned the double team, as Dwyer shouted out instructions to use metal claw and bullet punch. That didn't matter, since Kangaskhan darted to the side once Scizor went for an attack, showing off surprisingly fast feet for such a bulky pokémon. Scizor chased down his foe, and started to catch up and land some blows. Kangaskhan was knocked down to the ground and looked to be in some real trouble. Dwyer saw the chance to close things out and he ordered Scizor to go forward with metal claw with as much force as possible. This over-committed attack was also something Kangaskhan was trained for, and she leapt over to the side in quick fashion just as Scizor landed his claws into the ground. This kept him stuck there with both of his main weapons grounded…which also left him unable to use his claws to defend. Kangaskhan connected with a counter punch that caught Scizor right in the cheek, and landed the knock out in stunning fashion. Though it had been a very difficult fight, Holden won yet again.

Dwyer swore up and down while the audience went absolutely mad. There was a standing ovation for Holden and his team's extraordinary performance in the face of adversity. Holden was now going to the finals to face Diantha. Ash ran out on the field to celebrate with Holden over the victory, and they both hugged as Holden struggled to grasp that his pokémon had pulled it off. This was a great victory…but one battle still remained. Somehow, once again, fate had returned Holden and Diantha to face each other in battle. Last year, she had been the one to beat him, and in previous tournaments as well. All these years and Holden had never beaten her in battle. This time, he had to break the cycle.

Holden was searching over in the crowd, trying to find Serena and the others, but the noise volume had reached unprecedented levels, and the final battle was about to begin. Diantha began to walk out on the field, and she met eye contact with Holden. Once he was looking her way, he stayed focused on posturing to display strength. They both approached each other, while the announcer built up the tension to their great showdown. This was a battle that the spectators knew had a ton of energy behind it.

Finally, the two bitter rivals stood directly in front of each other, and Diantha let out a noticeable deep breath. "Holden, you just don't know how to quit do you?"

He enjoyed hearing it, even if it was out of spite that she said it. "No, I guess not."

Diantha looked over him, as if she was sizing him up, and then spoke again. "If you manage to beat me, I guess your school really does deserve a second chance. But that's the thing: you'll _never_ beat me." Her words were bold, and she'd backed them up as far back as Holden knew. Yet, he felt a sense of vulnerability in them, and his confidence reached a new level. Somehow, he felt that Diantha was under a lot of pressure now, and this gave him additional strength. That still didn't change the fact that this would be the hardest battle of his entire life.

The ref made his approach, and received the starters from both sides, before leaving them alone for the moment. As they both stared at each other, Holden stood just a bit firmer, and Diantha pulled away first to return to her spot. The audience cheered in excitement at the impending final battle of the tournament. This was the end of everything, and the cherry on top of an incredible National Championship. Both adversaries went to their starting positions. Once they were where they needed to be, the match was ready to begin.

Diantha led out with Tyrantrum, and Holden led out with Alakazam. Diantha quickly sent her Tyrantrum in aggressively, hoping to feed off the pressure Holden had over his shoulders. However, Holden's Alakazam didn't suffer from Holden's nerves and fought to his best, just as he was trained. He continuously launched psychic attacks which pushed down on Tyrantrum as he charged in, and thus used gravity to add increasing damage to the dinosaur pokémon. Ultimately, Tyrantrum fell to this repeated barrage, and Alakazam got a fairly comfortable victory.

For her second pick, Diantha sent out Aurorus. Holden suspected this was just her stalling until she sent out Gardevoir for her final pick, so he had instructed his Alakazam to fight in a particular fashion. As Aurorus surged forward to unleash attacks, Alakazam kept on moving to avoid the impacts, but he also launched psybeams and psychic blasts to pick apart his foe. In short, Holden ensured his Alakazam was prepared for Aurorus to go light on her offense, since she was merely trying to drag on the battle until it was time for Gardevoir to enter. Since Alakazam was well-prepared, he managed to eventually knock out Aurorus while receiving only light damage. Holden was now two pokémon ahead, and in a strong lead, though he knew how hollow his position was with what Diantha's final pick was going to be.

Gardevoir rejoined the field, and Diantha activated the mega stone to superpower her signature pokémon. Mega Gardevoir was at her peak levels of strength, and she moved in to put an end to Alakazam. Instead of trying to retreat, Alakazam launched thunder wave, a paralyzing technique he'd been taught, while using his psychic power to defend against Gardevoir's offense. The fairy pokémon gladly absorbed the paralyzing blows and overpowered her foe's psychic abilities with her own, ending the showdown with a knockout. Alakazam was done fighting.

Despite the powerful introduction of Mega Gardevoir, it had gone as expected, and Holden was calm and focused as he responded to the events by picking Venusaur next. What stood out to viewers was that neither Alakazam nor Venusaur had fought in the previous battle against Dwyer, which meant Holden had been keeping them rested for this pivotal final battle. At this point, it appeared very obvious that Holden would select Scizor as his final pick against Diantha's Gardevoir, though she didn't seem concerned in the slightest. Venusaur quickly unleashed his vines to move in on Gardevoir, but the vines were intercepted by her psychic energy. While that occurred, Venusaur unleashed heavy torrents of stun spore to work on slowing down Gardevoir, only to find that she was powerful enough to fight through the spores. Even while being paralyzed by stinging bursts of special attacks, Gardevoir came through and unleashed a moon blast which sent Venusaur into unconsciousness. That left Holden down to only one more pokémon, and the next knockout would determine this year's National Champion.

Holden unleashed his final pick…Scizor, as expected. Diantha smirked as she was ready to send Gardevoir to finish the job. However, Holden began to act peculiar, and Diantha noticed it. He had something that he put around his wrist. Next, he pressed on it, and a glowing light illuminated the area around him. _It was a mega stone_. Which meant Scizor changed into Mega Scizor, thanks to the mega stone Holden had acquired. In a sudden revelation, Holden had finally accepted the use of a mega stone in a pokémon battle to help gain the victory. Now with his Mega Scizor, his lead pokémon was at a level of power he'd never competed at before. This was the end result of his time spent preparing with Sycamore and Gurkinn for this monumental moment of his life.

To top everything off, Gardevoir was significantly slower as a result of the stunning techniques Holden's team implemented leading up to this spot.

Diantha just stared in bewilderment as she began to fully grasp the depths Holden had gone to in order to reach this position now. Gardevoir was moving slowly, but Diantha still intended to overpower Holden's final pokémon, so she ordered some high-powered attacks. Even so, Holden's Scizor used double team to spread out his location to a large radius, while also building energy with swords dance, and Gardevoir was unable to focus her energy on one target. While this didn't result in Scizor landing any successful attacks, he prolonged the match even further…thus giving the paralyzing spores more time to strain Gardevoir's body. It reached the point where she was barely able to turn, and Scizor ended up reaching behind the fairy pokémon, where he connected with some bullet punches before darting away to avoid a counter attack.

Even with things beginning to go downhill, Diantha remained confident that her Gardevoir would land a knockout blow, so she kept on ordering moonblasts, psychic attacks, and focus blasts. Scizor moved rapidly, refusing to permit even one special attack to connect, knowing that he'd be unable to afford a single hit. Holden's instructions had been for Scizor to keep moving, and avoid attacking until it was clear that Gardevoir was significantly weakened by paralysis. Sure enough, that moment in time finally seemed to arrive, and Gardevoir shrugged her shoulders and tensed up on the ground. Sensing an opportunity had come, Scizor leapt in, ready to land a winning blow. The only problem was…Gardevoir was faking the injury. As soon as Scizor was in range, Gardevoir rose up and fired a huge focus blast, unleashing her full force at Scizor. The ray of light connected full force and Scizor seemed to fade away…revealing it had merely been one of the doubles from double team. The decoy had been part of the game plan as well, and Scizor charged in for real, approaching from the rear, now that Gardevoir had used up her one trick and left herself vulnerable. Scizor landed a powerful metal claw, which had been upped to full strength with swords dance by now, and was one of the only move types that were super effective against Gardevoir's typing. Unable to appropriately dodge or defend, Gardevoir suffered the full extent of the hit, and fell down to her knees. Diantha screamed and shouted for her Gardevoir to get up and keep fighting, but Scizor came in with yet another metal claw which planted Gardevoir flat on the ground. As he reached up to hammer in a third metal claw, Gardevoir disappeared in a ray of light…after being recalled to her orb by Diantha.

The battle was over: Holden was the new National Champion.

The cheers exploded like firecrackers, and everyone in the audience leapt from their seats. Holden stared in shock as Diantha covered her face with both hands, and it finally dawned on him that he'd won the tournament. Once it finally hit, Holden raised both arms in the air and ran around aimlessly, overcome by emotion at this victory. For the first time in his life, he'd beaten Diantha, and this time, he did it with his entire academy counting on him! At last, everything had finally paid off.

People began to run over to the guard rails, forcing security to stand and block them from reaching the field. Even so, many people were breaking through and getting onto the fields to try and reach the new champion. Holden barely noticed any of it, because he felt everything spinning in circles. This was the epitome of his journey, and all of the hard work and sacrifice had gotten him to this point now. It was a feeling of accomplishment and completion that he'd never felt before.

Then he saw the familiar face of Serena running to him. "Holden!" she shouted in ecstasy as she raced straight for him. He opened his arms and welcomed her with a strong embrace, lifting her off her feet and swinging her around in the air. After a few spins, he brought her back down and lowered down to bury his head against her, where she noticed that he was shedding tears of joy. Serena kissed Holden's head and hugged him tightly, sharing in his joy in this powerful moment. She'd never lost faith in him, and she was so glad to see his dedication pay off at last.

Diantha rose back up and revealed her face once again. She looked stern, but she walked over to Holden until he finally noticed her and looked back. She crossed her arms and exhaled in a sense of relief. "You really are something, Holden Hoffman," she said, suddenly absent of resentment toward him for the first time ever. "I'll honor our deal. It was a good battle."

When she spoke the words, Holden held his hands against the top of his head, and nearly lost himself in tears once again. He looked up in the air and shouted, "Thank you!" After that, he faced Diantha and held both hands together as he thanked her directly as well. She sighed and nodded, offering a hand to her worth adversary after the amazing battle. Holden looked at Diantha's hand, but then moved forward and hugged her in an unexpected gesture of respect. Diantha looked startled, but was unable to deny the validity of Holden's emotions, so she didn't oppose his move. Afterward, Holden thanked her one more time, and then ran back over to grab Serena in a strong embrace.

The announcer's voice rang out in the air above the roaring crowds of fans. "_Give it up for your new National Champion: Holden Hoffman!_"

THE END


End file.
